Mumbai : Vidya Balan came, saw and conquered. In the male dominated Bollywood industry, she changed the rules of the game more often than any of her contemporaries. But as they say, everything comes at a price. Vidya, on her way to stardom had to overcome her own insecurities, majorly around her body.
“My weight issue had become a national issue,” Vidya Balan once said. As per the actor, she was always a “fat girl” with hormonal issues. So a fluctuating weight was a regular concern. She said she ‘hated’ her body as it had ‘betrayed’ her. “On the days I was under the pressure of looking my best, I would bloat up and I would be so angry and frustrated,” she told TOI earlier this year.
Vidya Balan made a remarkable entry into Bollywood with Parineeta in 2005. The character not just introduced us to her impeccable acting chops, but also her angelic beauty which she carried with elan through her character. Her Lalita was a dream catch for both the leading men.
Soon enough Vidya fell victim to being that “pretty Indian face”. Thus began her journey of image change and her conscious attempt at trying to fit the bill. Salaam-e-Ishq, Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection followed between 2007-2008. Vidya tried hard with short hair, chic wardrobe and a chunky look. But each time it just didn’t work out. Reason? While many said Vidya had a traditional cut, others pointed out at her weight issues, many calling her style ‘ageing’, ‘boring’ and ‘monotonous’. This was exactly the year (2008) when Kareena Kapoor brought in “size zero” in Bollywood with Tashan, narrowing down the parameters about acceptable body types on camera.
So when Vidya returned in her saree-clad character of a mother in Paa (2009), audience lapped it up. Ishqiya (2010) was received well too. But did that box Vidya in a “typical Indian frame” when parallelly she was becoming a force to reckon with in noteworthy women-led stories? Can a performance be impacted by looks?
“There is no end to rejecting your body and spending a lifetime doing that. But what really happens, it is not your body’s fault, your body needs at least one person on its side, and I said to myself that this is my body and I love it,” Vidya told indianexpress.com in an interview in June.
Vidya found a new body positivity when she picked one of the biggest roles in her filmography till date — Silk in The Dirty Picture (2011). As fiery and rebellious as Silk was, Vidya rebelled against unreal body standards. She gained 12 kilos to play the boldest character of her career. Silk oozed sensuality, and was not afraid to own it.
Vidya shed all her inhibitions to portray Silk, inspired by the life of controversial south Indian star Vijayalaxmi aka Silk Smitha. Vidya told ANI, “This girl belongs to the South film industry and the actresses were mostly wholesome out there, especially the dancing stars. So, I had to put on weight.”
She represented lakhs of women who were being pressured by unreal body standards that were being forced upon them by fashion and glamour industry.
The very next year in 2012, Vidya did another highlight of her career, Kahaani where she played a pregnant woman, running around the streets of Kolkata, searching for her missing husband. Vidya infused a new confidence in not just writers and filmmakers, but even other female actors that a character with a huge tummy could indeed pull off an entire movie. From Kareena Kapoor and Kiara Advani in Good Newwz to Neena Gupta in Badhaai Ho and more recent, Kriti Sanon in Mimi, female stars happily took up movies where the plot revolved around their pregnant characters, where looking big was crucial.
Salman Khan, while promoting Tiger Zinda Hai on the stage of Bigg Boss 11 in 2017, asked the contestants to sketch Katrina Kaif, to test their drawing skills. Salman made fun of some sketches saying they looked more like Vidya Balan than Katrina, a clear indication that he was pointing at Vidya’ weight. While Salman’s comment received flak, Vidya told Filmibeat that people are body-obsessed. “‘Moti’ is not an expletive for me. But I don’t like it when people comment on my body,” she said, calling out those who joke around someone’s physical frame.
