In a comfort zone
Actor Vidya Balan is happy being given roles that challenge her. “It’s no longer necessary to do formula films,” claims Balan, who, with her last two roles, has more than proved her metier. “There is now space for films which deal with real characters,” says Balan., who is currently gearing up for a film that takes a close look at the Jessica Lall case. Balan says that she has not met Jessica’s sister because the director asked her not to. “It’s based on her but is not totally representational — it has been fictionalised around the account that we have been reading in the papers” clarifies Balan. While working on this film she says she realised that “It’s no point always blaming the system. We have got to be the agents of change and work towards it. Jessica’s sister epitomises that for me. After a while her fight was not just for her sister, but for justice at a different level.”. She says she is happy with her recent body of work and the acceptance she has found with audiences. “It took me a while to find who I am, but now I am comfortable in my skin and I think that shows.”
Has she got ‘it'?
She is being billed as the ‘hottest thing' to watch out for. The publicity mills have been working overtime to project her as someone with the ‘it' factor. Mexico's export to Bollywood, actor Barbara Mori, co-starring in a Hindi film with Hrithik Roshan, said that when she first saw his movie, “I did not like him and wasn't inclined to work with him. That was because of the character he played. But later I saw his other films.” “He is a very good person and took great care of me on the sets,” added Mori. What were the challenges once she took up the assignment? Mori recalls, “I was worried about having to speak in Hindi and about dancing.” Having tasted some success, Mori is not averse to coming back to India and filming in Bollywood. “And yes, if it is needed I will learn to speak Hindi,” she adds.
