In a league of her own

It's no breaking news that there's something quite extraordinary about this powerhouse of an actress. Rather, the news is that Vidya Balan has just wrapped up her next film, Tumhari Sulu, in which she portrays a loquacious radio jockey of a fictional broadcast station called Wow. The 38-year-old artiste did play a similar character opposite Sanjay Dutt in Lage Raho Munnabhai, but that was a relatively abbreviated role. In this content-driven project produced by ace photographer Atul Kasbekar (his next film after the widely lauded Neerja) along with Tanuj Garg, Vidya Balan holds centrestage completely.
I haven't seen her in eons, so there I am on the sets where a song-and-dance number is about to be shot with debutant director Suresh Triveni, who has stacked his resume with a series of successful ad films, at the helm of affairs. For starters, a young set of chorus dancers rehearse to the beat of the Sridevi classic Hawa Hawai from the 1987 film Mr India. Then there is Neha Dhupia, who portrays the boss of the broadcast office, touching up her makeup. Gratifyingly, Vidya doesn't replicate Sridevi's dance moves or the ornate costume from the Mr India chartbuster. Dressed in a cola-coloured saree, she exudes glamour. However, her USP is that she looks real, there is no trace of either artifice or attitude. A mere mimicry of Sridevi's style would have drawn odious comparisons, the bane of all remixed versions used lately in movies - be it a retreaded Humma Humma performed by Shraddha Kapoor in OK Jaanu or the updated Laila O Laila disco jab by Sunny Leone in Raees.
Unarguably, Vidya Balan's career best performances have been evidenced in Parineeta (2005), Paa (2009), The Dirty Picture (2011), No One Killed Jessica (2011) and Kahaani (2012). Subsequently though, a row of films like Ghanchakkar (2013), Shaadi Ke Side-Effects (2014) and Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015), topped by the chaotically assembled Begum Jaan (2017), haven't really done her justice.
It would be gratuitous to state that she shouldn't have touched such downers with a barge pole. The snag is that a promising screenplay doesn't always translate into a film that is above the cut. In case of all her commercial downcurves, including Kahaani 2, her performances couldn't be faulted.
Consistently believable and competent, Vidya has toiled on getting her accent and dialogue pitch perfect, in consonance with the characterisations assigned to her. Not surprisingly, sound engineers and dubbing supervisors are delighted to work with her, mentioning Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Tabu, Ajay Devgn and Vidya as actors who have an impeccable command over the Hindi language.
Clearly, Vidya's expressive face, voice and chameleon-like ability to blend into her roles are her fortune. Her weight is another story altogether. While other A-list actresses toil at gyms and follow a strict diet regimen, Vidya has chosen to be herself - natural. An individual prerogative that.
As I watch her dance to Hawa Hawai with abandon, I notice she has no hang-ups and absolutely no demands on the director to photograph her from only flattering angles. By contrast, all her peers are obsessive about their body shape and race to the video console to check if they've been lensed to advantage. Evidently, acting is Vidya's priority, and the audience has approved of that unconditionally time and again. The Tumhari Sulu shoot stretches on way past from 7 pm to 3 am. She doesn't demand a break, her energy levels don't flag. In between shots, we snatch in a bit of conversation. "Where have you been? Haven't seen you in years," she tells me.
"You got married," I laugh.
"Ha!" she laughs right back. "But I never stopped being a working woman, did I? Whoever claims a career is hampered by one's marital status, should think again. Believe me a homemaker can act too."
Right. No issues with that at all. At present, Tumhari Sulu is the only film which she has on her plate. After a brief holiday with her husband, film corporate honcho Siddharth Roy Kapur, and the film's wrap-up party, Vidya will take a call on her next project.
The proposed biopic on the late poet Kamala Das, it seems, didn't work out. But there's a pile of scripts to scan and resolve where to go next. Obviously, there's no hurry to take on random projects and make hay while the sun shines. And the sun always does shine for an actress of spleen and substance.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com