Vidya Balan Bollywood Actress Profile and Biography
Vidya Balan is one of the popular actresses in the Bollywood film industry.Vidya Balan the bollywood actress profile and biography is given here. She is a native of Kerala and is unique from the other actresses of Bollywood in many ways. Read more to know the profile, biography, awards won, filmography, bio data, education and family life of actress Vidya Balan.
Full Name : Vidya Balan
Date of Birth : January 1st, 1979
Zodiac Sign : Capricorn
Mother tongue : Tamil
Hometown : Palakkad, Kerala
Profession : Film Actress and model
Years active : 2003 till present
Father's Name : P.R Balan
Mother's Name : Saraswati
Education : St Anthony's Girls High School and St Xavier's College and M.A in Sociology from University of Mumbai
Debut film in Hindi : Parineeta (2005)
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress who hails from the state of Kerala in India. Though she is from South India, Vidya has only acted in Hindi films till date. It is only recently in the beginning of the year 2011 that she appeared in a Malayalam movie called Urumi with south Indian heartthrob Prithviraj in the lead. Before starting her career as an actress, Vidya has appeared in many music videos, television shows and commercials. Vidya Balan has also acted in one Bengali film which was actually her debut film titled as Bhalo Theko in the year 2003. In Bollywood, her debut film was Parineeta which was released in the year 2005. She has also won the Filmfare award for Best Female Debut for her amazing portrayal of her character in the film. Vidya Balan is unique and different from most of the other actresses in Bollywood as she chooses to play character roles and roles which give her the potential to grow as an actress. She does not resort to too much skin show in order to attract the audience. Infact Vidya has done very few films till date because of her choosiness in selecting scripts. But it is always good to do a worthy character in a perfect manner rather than accept all the offers that come to one's way without giving full commitment to the work. Her first commercially hit film was Lage Raho Munnabhai which had Sanjay Dutt in the lead role. 
Vidya Balan's biggest asset or sex appeal is her eyes. So intense are her eyes that she can enact her roles even without any dialogues as her eyes speak everything that is needed to be told. In contrast to today's Bollywood stars, Vidya Balan has a very traditional Indian look which makes her quite unique from the others. No other actress can replace her in the roles that she has played in the films and still bring about the same kind of success. She relies on her beauty, grace and talent for success rather than by exposure. She has had her share of link-up's in the Bollywood industry some of being with co-stars Shahid Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham. Unfortunately, she has been rumoured to have had affairs with most of her co-stars which is the reason why the actress is fed up with the link-ups created by the media. Nowadays Vidya is always seen at award shows and interviews wearing traditional saris. She has been lately criticised very frequently by the media as they feel that she has a very bad sense of dressing. The entire hype began at the Filmfare awards where she was even given a Na-Real award for the worst dressed celebrity of Bollywood for her dreadful clothes in her film Heyy Babyy. This Na-Real award is not an actual award but it is just an informal award given by Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan when they were hosting one of the event for Filmfare awards. Vidya unfortunately got the this award for Wardrobe Malfunction and ever since she has been rebuked harshly by the media on this topic. But Vidya Balan did not allow all this to perturb her and she took it sportingly. She says that it is fine as long as no one has any complains about her work in the films and that fashion sense can always be changed.Early life and Education Background of Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan hails from Ottapalam town in Palakkad district of Kerala. She comes from a Tamil speaking Brahmin (Iyer) family. She was born on January 1st, 1978 to P.R Balan and Saraswati. Her father, P.R Balan is the Vice president of ETC channel and her mother is a homemaker. She also has a younger sister named Priyamani. She completed her schooling from St Anthony's Girls High School, Mumbai and attained her graduation degree in Sociology from St Xavier's College. It was while studying for MA at the University of Mumbai that Vidya Balan got her first offer in films. Vidya Balan has also been trained in carnatic music and has also studied and performed at Prithvi Theatre Workshops. Vidya comes across as a God fearing girl who wishes to give credit of her success with her family and friends. She fits into the league of actresses like Tabu and Madhuri Dixit who are known for their substantial roles and absolute talent in acting.
Vidya Balan got her first award for the title of Best Actress for the film Paa in 2010. In he film, she essayed the role of a single mother to a child suffering from a rare genetic condition called progeria. The film was directed by R.Balki and Vidya's acting in the film was stupendous and it also won her a lot of critical acclaim as well as awards from many streams. Another role which brought a lot of praise and appreciation to Vidya was her character in the film Ishqiya which was also released in 2010. This role also won her many awards. Vidya played her first real-life character of Sabrina Lal (the sister of Jessica Lal who was murdered by the son of a wealthy politician) in the film No One Killed Jessica. Vidya Balan's acting career
Vidya Balan was supposed to make her debut in acting with a Malayalam film called Chakram opposite superstar Mohanlal but for some reasons the film could not be made at that time. After this, she was offered a role in the Tamil film Run but was later dropped from the film to be replaced by actress Meera Jasmine. The earlier film Chakram was finally released with Prithviraj in the lead and this time again Vidya was not chosen as the co-star and instead Meera Jasmine was again taken in her place. It was after this few failures that Vidya moved to television advertisements, music videos and television serials. Vidya's debut as a model was in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She has appeared in many commercial ads and music videos by singers like Pankaj Udhas and Shubha Mudgal. She was even shown in the music video of a song by the band Euphoria. Later Vidya Balan portrayed the role of Radhika Mathur in the hit comedy serial Hum Paanch. She portrayed the character of Radhika Mathur who is an intelligent but nerdy young woman who has a hearing problem and walks around with a hearing aid. She dropped out of the show in between to complete her graduation on her parent's insistence. Vidya has one more television serial to her credit titled as Hanste Khelte.
Vidya Balan's debut film was a Bengali film called Bhalo Theko in the year 2003 for which she won the Anandalok Puraskar Best Actress award in Calcutta. Parineeta was her debut film in bollywood and she essayed her character of Lolita so well that the critics also praised her performance. She had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before being chosen for the role. This film also won her many awards as Best Female Debut. Later, Vidya was offered the role opposite Kamal Haasan in the much acclaimed film Dasavathaaram but Vidya rejected the role which later went to actress Asin. Her next film in Hindi was opposite Sanjay Dutt in the blockbuster hit Lage Raho Munnabhai. Vidya's next role of a young woman suffering from multiple sclerosis in the film Guru was also much appreciated by the audience. She won few awards for best supporting actress for the film. Vidya's next films were Eklavya: The Royal Guard and Salaam-e-Ishq:A Tribute of Love. Though Eklavya did not do well in the box office commercially, it went on to become India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards. Unfortunately, it did not make it to the nomination list of the Oscars. Later, she did few commercial films such Heyy Babyy (opposite Akshay Kumar), Bhool Bhulaiyya (opposite Akshay Kumar and Shiney Ahuja) and Kismat Konnection (opposite Shahid Kapoor). Her roles in these films demanded the Bollywood kind of glamour in them. Vidya tried her best to essay the roles in a glamorous way and she did succeed to a great extent. But the audience believed that she looked much more beautiful in traditional dresses and that character roles suit her more as she has the talent to portray them well. 
It was in 2009 that her next blockbuster hit came out which was the film Paa opposite Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. In the film Amitabh Bachchan plays the role of Vidya Balan's son who is suffering from the genetic condition called progeria. Vidya essayed the role of a single mother with so much ease and perfection. She never overdid the role and brought a lot of natural touch to it with her controlled emotions and graceful nature of a courageous mother. Her next film Ishqiya (2010) opposite popular actor Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi was yet another blockbuster hit at the box office. In this film, she played the role of a 30 year old widow living in a village. Her character was that of a mysterious and seductive woman. With this role, Vidya Balan proves that sensuality can be brought about even without showing off the skin and wearing less clothes. In 2011, Vidya's first release was No One Killed Jessica alongside Rani Mukherjee where Vidya plays the role of the real-life person called Sabrina Lal. Sabrina is the sister of the model Jessica Lal who was shot dead by the son of a wealthy politician in Delhi. In this film too, Vidya adorns very plain and dull clothes and even sporting a big pair of spectacles. There is no glamour at all in the character but Vidya still manages to portray it with much strength and win the hearts of the audience as well as critics. Vidya Balan completed her debut film in Malayalam with a film titled Urumi directed by Santhosh Sivan. The film has Prithviraj and Genelia D'Souza in the lead roles and Vidya Balan has appeared in a dance number for the film. Her much-awaited upcoming movie is titled The Dirty Picture which portrays the life and death of Indian actress Silk Smitha. For this film, Vidya has been asked to put on weight as the role demands it. Vidya claims that playing Silk Smitha's role is going to be one of the most challenging roles of her career till date. Charitable works of Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is associated with AmFar (Americans for AIDS Research) and Hale House which is a home for children who are born with HIV and those people who are affected by drug addiction. She also participates in programmes of the Harvard AIDS Institute. Her other charitable works are her involvement in children's books where the proceeds go towards educating kids. 
Awards and Nominations of Vidya Balan
1. Filmfare award winner for Best Female Debut in Parineeta (2006)
2. Filmfare award winner for Face of the year in Parineeta (2006)
3. Filmfare award winner for Best actress in Paa (2010)
4. Filmfare winner for Critics award for Best Performance in Ishqiya (2011)
5. Nominated for Filmfare Best Actress award in Parineeta (2006)
6. Nominated for Filmfare Best Acress award in Bhool Bhulaiyya (2008)
7. Nominated for Filmfare Best Actress award in Ishqiya (2011)
8. Star screen awards winner for Most Promising newcomer-Female in Parineeta (2006)
9. Star screen awards winner for Best actress in Paa (2010)
10. Star screen awards winner for Best actress in Ishqiya (2011)
11. Zee cine awards winner for Best Female Debut in Parineeta (2006)
12. Zee Cine awards winner for Best Actor - Female in Ishqiya (2011)
13. Nominated for Zee cine awards for Best actor- Female in Parineeta (2006)
14. International Indian film Academy Awards (IIFA) winner for Best Female Debut in Parineeta (2006)
15. IIFA winner for Best Actress in Paa (2010) - shared with Kareena Kapoor
16. Nominated for IIFA Best Actress in Lage Raho Munnabhai (2007)
17. Nominated for IIFA Best Actress in Bhool Bhulaiyya (2008)
18. Nominated for IIFA Best Villain in Bhool Bhulaiyya (2008)
19. Nominated for IIFA Best Supporting Actress in Guru (2008)
20. Stardust awards winner for Superstar of Tomorrow - Female in Parineeta (2006)
21. Nominated for Stardust award for Best Supporting actress in Guru (2008)
22. Nominated for Stardust award for Star of the Year - Female in Ishqiya (2011)
23. Nominated for Stardust Reader's Choice Award for Best Actress in Ishqiya (2011)
24. Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards winner for Outstanding Debut in Parineeta (2005)
25. Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards winner for Best actress in Paa (2010)
26. Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild awards winner for Best actress in a leading role in Ishqiya (2011)
27. Anandalok Puraskar Awards for Best actress in Bhalo Theko (2004)
28. Star's Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine in Parineeta (2006)
29. Anandalok Puraskar Awards for Best Actress (Hindi) in Bhool Bhulaiyya (2007)
30. Lions Gold Awards for Best Actress in Paa (2010)
31. FICCI Frames 2010 Excellence Awards for Best Actress in Paa (2010)
32. Global Indian Film & Television Honours for Best Actor in a lead role - Female in Ishqiya (2011)
33. NDTV Indian of the year, Actor of the year- female (2011)
Filmography of Vidya Balan
1. Bhalo Theko (Bengali Film) in 2003
2. Parineeta in 2005
3. Lage Raho Munnabhai in 2006
4. Guru in 2006
5. Salaam-e-Ishq in 2006
6. Eklavya in 2006
7. Heyy Babyy in 2007
8. Bhool Bhulaiyya in 2007
9. Om Shanti Om in 2007
10. Halla Bol in 2007
11. Kismat Konnection in 2008
12. Paa in 2009
13. Ishqiya in 2010
14. No One Killed Jessica in 2010
15. Urumqi (Malayalam Film) in 2010
16. Thank You in 2010
17. Dum Maaro Dum in 2011Upcoming Movies of Vidya Balan
1. Kahani in 2011
2. Arabiyum Ottkavum P Madhavan Nairum (Malayalam film)
3. The Dirty Picture
Job oriented