Bollywood veteran Vidya Balan, the queen of female-led cinema, recently graced the cover of Peacock Magazine, where she shared candid thoughts on her choice of roles and the perception that her characters carry social or emotional messages.
Vidya Balan breaks silence on whether it was a conscious choice to do female centric roles; says, “I never intended to preach, i just told stories that moved me”
“I’m actually against any kind of messaging,” Vidya revealed. “I believe that films are meant to entertain. If something in the film touches you and you take something away from it, that’s a bonus—but preaching or pushing a message? That’s never been my intention. Now, it just so happened that I was at the forefront of what is now called ‘female-led’ or ‘female-centric’ cinema. Many of those films had a recurring narrative—a woman finding her voice. So I understand why people feel like those characters carried a message. But that wasn’t the point. I was just telling stories that moved me. And the truth is—life is full of such stories.”
Reflecting on her inspirations, Vidya spoke about her early college days at Xavier’s, commuting from Chembur by train. She said, “In the first-class compartments, I’d see working women discussing families in the mornings and cutting vegetables on their way home in the evenings. They’d go home after a full day’s work and still cook dinner. Their stories—full of fire, grit and resilience—inspired me more than anything else. When our first-class passes expired, we’d sometimes travel second class. The energy there was completely different—women were louder, more street-smart, more uninhibited. There was a raw fierceness, an edge. Different flames, but fire nonetheless. And I think that’s what many of these films tapped into—not by design, but by the very nature of the stories themselves. These women were always around us. Their stories were just waiting to be told. That’s why I say timing is everything. Maybe we were just ready, collectively, to celebrate these women.”
Vidya also shared her selective approach to scripts, saying, “I’m actually very wary of scripts that wear their messaging on their sleeve. That kind of cinema doesn’t interest me. But give me a character like in Mission Mangal, where the woman is a scientist, a homemaker, and a mother who was helping her son who was a bit lost. Because those are the women I know. And they’re inspiring without even trying.”
Over the years, Vidya Balan has impressed audiences with a string of memorable performances in films such as The Dirty Picture, Kahaani, Tumhari Sulu, and Mission Mangal, solidifying her reputation as a trailblazer who brings authenticity, depth, and relatability to every character she portrays.
Also Read: Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Parineeta: “Casting Vidya Balan was one of my best decisions”
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