Some years ago a rather unusual girl debuted. she was pretty and had a nice smile and acted rather well for a new comer.the movie gave her role space but the hero was, if you understand my meaning, very much the hero.so how did this girl, talented but by no means spectacular,suddenly metamorphose into India's most critically praised and commercially successful heroine?
Vidya Balan isn't malleable.Physicality does limit the roles you can play. Bollywood loves the average girl-averagely tall,attractive,and pan Indian in appeal( think Kareena Kapoor).the emphasis is 'girl',if you look even a little more mature,'aunty' is the label you must accept.she must not burst out of these limits.she can do work that showcases her role,as long as she doesn't make a habit of it,and become (God forbid) a parallel film actress.
so to reiterate the question: How?by understanding herself.she switched her strategy from papering over her weaknesses to displaying her strengths.the kind of work one receives in any industry depends on smart positioning.she was a good actress initially-now she is the only actress who plunges into her role without the standard Bollywood safeguards.she also understood that a multi faceted actor is exactly that-and one of the facets must include sex appeal.this increased her commercial viability to the extent that Vishal Bhardwaj was willing to cast her-crucially,unlike Konkana Sensharma in Omkara-in the pivotal,femme fatale role,rather than as the subsidiary heroine who knows how to act.
Vidya's broken the glass barrier to an extent that no one,least of all Bollywood heroes,thought her capable of doing.this has produced wide adulation and some rather snide remarks about her weight and age.she doesn't need to overcome them.all she needs is to continue as she is.they'll surely die of envy.
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