Vidya Balan is recently enjoying all the credits that her latest film ‘Jalsa’ is fetching her, starring Shefali Shah as the second lead. For the unversed, Vidya essayed a somewhat grey character in the film, a tough nut to crack sort of Journalist, Maya Menon, who puts her life’s ethics and value in question with her head-on decisions. Shefali Shah, on the hand other, plays the character of Rukhsana, Maya’s house help and her son’s caretaker, who suffers from a cerebral deformity. With the success of the film, Vidya shared in a recent interview how she never intended to sign the film in the first place, and that the pandemic helped her give some clarity on signing the film.
“The first time Suresh narrated it to me, I thought it was an extremely well-written script. But I did not have the guts to do it at that time. So I said no. But thankfully, the pandemic changed something in me and I think I re-read the script. And I felt more ready to explore the grey side of Maya Menon and I think, therefore, of me, also. I ended up doing the film. I’m so grateful I did it because it’s been one of those unmatched experiences that I’ve had as an actor,” she said.
She shared how the film had urged people to share their real-life experiences with her and admits the film thus, was able to receive many overwhelming responses. “People are writing us long messages. I actually had someone share something very personal with me about how they were actually in an accident but had to flee. The person didn’t die, thankfully. But I think they ran over someone’s foot and they couldn’t stop and help because they were in a place where there were lots of women in the car, and they didn’t feel secure about stopping in the middle of the night there and attending to that person. And they fled. I think the film has touched people in a very deep way. And that that is very, very gratifying and fulfilling. The reactions have been astounding, to say the least,” she shared.
Sharing about the kind of scripts she chooses, Vidya doesn’t like it monotonous. She said, “Oh, wow, this is something I like to watch. This is something I’d like to do’. It’s very instinctive. But yes, I look for new things to do because I’m very impatient and restless as an actor and as a viewer. I get fed up very easily. I need things to challenge and excite me. I’m being offered very exciting content. I’m really spoiled for choice.”
ALSO READ – BTS Did NOT Receive A Formal Invitation At President Yoon’s Inauguration For THIS Reason!
She also believes it’s high time that people start realizing that women can also take the lead and that the industry is also experiencing a subtle change, witnessing more female-driven films lately. “That change has been underway for a while now. You know, obviously, with more such films doing well, more such films will get made. Hopefully, one day there’ll be an equal number of female lead and male lead films. And maybe we won’t even have to mention that when we’ll be walking in to watch a film. And in some cases, the hero might be a man, and in other cases, a woman. So I think that that perception is definitely been changing for the past, I think more than a decade now. Slowly but surely. I think Jalsa also has sort of solidified that because of the number of people who’ve been messaging me saying, ‘Oh, wow, two women like helming the film, and you don’t need a male hero’ and all of that.” she said.