Vidya Balan

01 Jan, 1978 | Palakkad

Actress

Biography

Vidya Balan is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi Cinema. She is regarded as one of the best versatile actors of B-town with  her great contribution to film industry.Vidya Balan is known for her best performances in the films like Tumhari Sulu ,The Dirty Picture and Shakuntala Devi.  Personal Life Vidya was born to P.R. Balan and Saraswathy in 1978 in in Palakkad, Kerala.She also has an elder sister named Priya. She completed her schooling at St. Anthony Girls High School. Then she studied sociology from St. Xavier's College. She then went and completed her MA at the University of Mumbai. There she got her first film offer. Career She started her acting carrer with a Malayalam film Chakram, but the film was shelved. Then she was signed for a Tamil film, Run but later she got replaced with Meera Jasmine. When Chakram was restarted Meera Jasmine was chosen instead of Vidya. She then did some television advertising from the year 1998. She also did some supporting roles in some music videos. Then in the year 2003, she did a Bengali film Bhalo Theko for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Kolkata. Then she came to Bollywood and debuted in the film Parineeta. She got her Filmfare Best Female Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. After the success of the first two films, the producer who dropped her from Manasellam again wanted to sign her for the film Dasavathaaram. She rejected the offer. Then in the year 2006, she starred in the film Lage Raho Munna Bhai which was a blockbuster at the box office. It was the second highest grossing film of that year. Then in the year 2007 she acted in the film Guru which was again a hit. Then she starred in Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love and Eklavya: The Royal Guard in the year 2007. Eklavya was then selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Then her two releases Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiya were also successful in the year 2007. In the year 2009, she did a film called Paa. This film gave her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress. Then she starred in the film Ishqiya in the year 2010. In the year 2011 she starred in the film No One Killed Jessica.   Awards and Recognition Vidya Balan has received many awards and acclaims for her remarkable contribution to the film industry. In 2014, she received the Padma Shri honour from the Indian government.