STRENGTH & BEAUTY

VIDYA BALAN is a role model for many, in the way she has evolved as a performer. The talented actor has always worked hard for any role that came her way, being true to her craft. Shraddha Kamdar bore witness to her passion and charisma as the actor took her through her process of choosing roles and preparing for them

- Shraddha Kamdar

OUTFIT: ARCVSH BY PALLAVI SINGH, JEWELLERY: TRIBE AMRAPALI; SHOES: CHARLES & KEITH

Vidya Balan loves watching movies on the single screen. On the day of this shoot and interview, she was super excited because she was going to watch Gadar 2 with a bunch of seven people that night. “I enjoy the film experience,” she tells us as she settles on the couch, feet up, and gets comfy for our chat. “Siddharth (Roy Kapoor, her husband) and I go every week,” she volunteers, admitting she went to a single-screen theatre to watch Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, twice, in two days. “Because I just loved it. So, I watched it with Siddharth once and then I went with my family the next day,” she laughs like a child who has found a forgotten sweet while fishing around a baggy pocket.

OUTFIT: AM.PM. JEWELLERY: ISHARYA

Growing up in ’90s India, it was a rare person who did not turn out to be a cinema buff. As one such aficionado, Vidya reminisces about Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) being the only film in her life so far that she’s watched four times in the theatre. “I’ve not even watched any of my own films!” she laughs. “I could rattle off the dialogues by the second time. I was crazy about Shah Rukh (Khan) and my heart went out to Kajol’s character, because she was just innocent. I knew all the songs and hummed them with great feeling.” She points out how ‘Shah Rukh mania’ was at its peak at the time, and how she loved