Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan could easily stand out in a crowd of today’s Bollywood starlets because of her warm smile and her classical Indian features coupled with her natural charm and grace which proved to be an instant success at the box-office for her first film based on Saratchandra Chatterjee’s novel ‘Parineeta’.
Vidya is belongs to the Iyer community from Palaghat (Kerala), she grew up in Mumbai and went to St. Antony’s School and later graduated in Sociology from St. Xavier’s College. She has graced more than 80 ads her debut being a Surf Excel ad way back in 1998 and done music videos for Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas. Vidya also acted in Ashok Pandit’s TV serial ‘Hanste Khelte’ and Ektaa Kapoor’s ‘Hum Paanch’.This multilingual actress has won multiple awards for her performances - Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female 2005, Filmfare Best Debut Award 2005, Zee Cine Award Best Female Debut 2005, IIFA Award Best Female Debut, 2005 and Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female 2005. She won the best actress award, ‘Anand Lok Puraskar’ for the movie Bhalo Theko in Kolkata.
The expectations were already high after ‘Parineeta’ which had her taking home 5 awards she decided to do a U-turn by turning from serious melodrama to comedy in the sequel of ‘Munnabahi MBBS’ which won her accolades yet again. She has shed her plain-Jane image for a complete modern makeover for ‘Salaam-E-Ishq’ in which she stars opposite John Abraham.
She is reported to have signed a movie with Shahid Kapur to be directed by Aziz Mirza which is a love story between a younger man and an older woman. She is also involved in humanitarian causes for AIDS victims.
This is one star definitely on her way up.