Was at the right place at the right time: Vidya

Mumbai: Looks like Lady Luck is smiling down on Vidya Balan. With a recent National Award win as the Best Actress and a super hit release just last week, Vidya has definitely arrived. While crediting her success to being in the right place at the right time, Vidya talks to CS about fame and fortune.

Real woman

I entered the industry as a woman with an author-backed role in 'Parineeta' (2005). The way women were perceived then in the film industry, didn't excite me ever. But now I am happy that our industry is in that stage where the change has already happened and it is manifesting itself in a bold way. I never planned on doing just women centric roles. But films like 'The Dirty Picture', 'No One Killed Jessica' and now 'Kahaani' inspired me to take up the challenge and put myself in the shoes of these real, ordinary women who have remarkable courage. I hope that the industry comes up with powerful 'girl' roles as well, though it's too late for me to fit in to one now.

Sensuous me

I have never had a plan to boost my career with 'meaty' roles. I was in the right place at the right time when the right roles came by and thankfully, I made the right decision to do them. Yes I've done roles that have strong sensuality. But then, every woman has an innate sense of sensuality. It's just that today, women are asserting it and are not shy expressing themselves as they used to be. And like others, I believe in celebrating my sensuality too. I enjoy it in different ways. Also, the way it is perceived differs -- 'The Dirty Picture' was different from 'Ishqiya' in its sensuality. So if my sensuality makes me different, I'm all for it.

Marathi mulgi

Yes, recently I shot in multiple looks for a magazine. And I enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I enjoy photoshoots because it allows you to do all the experimentation with your looks that you cannot in films. After a lot of serious cinema now, I will be back with a comedy by Raj Kumar Gupta titled 'Ghanchakkar'. I love his quirky sense of humour. That's the kind of films I love to work on.

Action is something I don't understand and don't wish to try either. I am not a violent person at all. But I want to broaden my horizon and I would love to do a Marathi film, probably as an ode to the land I grew up in. In fact, a Marathi film by Mahesh Manjrekar is being discussed, though I am still waiting for him to send me the script.