After her successful stints in the past and now being branded as the “female hero” of the Hindi film industry, Vidya Balan is leaving no stone unturned to live up to the expectations. To promote her upcoming film Kahaani, in which she plays the role of Vidya Bagchi — a six-month pregnant woman looking for her missing husband — Vidya made a public appearance giving a glimpse of her character in the film with that prosthetic baby bump.
She says the bump isn’t really making her uncomfortable in her massive promotional tour. “I’ve got so used to it that even if I don’t wear it now I’ll walk in the same manner. I have many memories of making a baby bump with a pillow when I was a kid,” she says adding that to get into the character completely she even visited a gynecologist. “I wanted to know how a six-month pregnant woman walks. But after wearing the prosthetic belly I hardly needed any inputs. This belly must be two kilos, so when I wear this I start feeling like I’m really pregnant. It becomes a little difficult to sit and walk,” she quips.
However, when quizzed if after this experience she is taking any step closer to marriage and becoming a mom, Vidya stuck to her usual answer that she has not really thought about it. “I think I’m not yet ready for marriage. Planning a baby is a far-fetched thought,” she says.
When asked if she intentionally chooses to be a part of women-centric films, given her recent success with The Dirty Picture which centred around the female protagonist, she reveals that these aren’t choices she makes intentionally. “In fact I want to be a part of films that have interesting stories and are made by good filmmakers,” she says.
The actress feels that she has been fortunate that her films in the past have done well. “When we were discussing Kahaani in 2010, No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture had not been released. There were people who suggested a male superstar should be roped in at least for a song as they thought a film would not work just with a female lead,” says Vidya, who now hopes that the film will work as the audience have accepted such films in the recent past.
“It will work because of the story. As the audience now don’t just want to see black and white. They have also started liking various shades of grey,” she adds.