“I am a boring eater. I want variety in my films, not in food.” It makes for an interesting headline but you wonder how the conversation will proceed over food. But when you are with Vidya Balan, nothing can be tedious. “I have no interest in cooking. My mother used to say, ‘seekh lo’ and I would confidently respond that I will earn enough money to hire a cook. Before marriage also, she persisted, ‘if the cook didn’t turn up some day’, I said, order karoongi!,” she laughs filling the air at the quiet Shang Palace in Shangri-La Eros Hotel with oodles of energy. With twice cooked tofu and pineapple in Yunnan sauce and wok tossed lotus root, water chestnuts in XO sauce for company, she gets talking. After marriage, she continues, “When some nosy neighbours came and said, Oh! you don’t cook, I said, yes, Siddharth (Roy Kapur), also doesn’t cook. Very bad!”
A complete vegetarian, over the years, Vidya’s understanding of what goes into what has improved and now she can instinctively give suggestions on what works. “My father-in-law is a great cook and he explains to me the hows and whys of cooking. Earlier I had understanding of South Indian food, with him I am trying to unravel Punjabi cuisine.”
It is difficult because before marriage just the sight of oil on top of a dish was enough to “kill” her. “After marriage, I realised that my in-laws believe that rich food is the only food. On the first Sunday lunch after marriage, I was shocked how rich that food was in terms of ghee and nuts. I wondered how much of it was going to be wasted. Nothing was wasted! All was polished off. Now, he gives me stuff with less oil but it is still more than what I can handle,” she gushes.
While Siddharth loves to experiment, for Vidya there is nothing like home food and South Indian remains her comfort food. “Pooja, one of my childhood friends, feels that if somebody doesn’t see what I am eating it would appear that I am eating something exotic because I enjoy even my dal chawal so much. I am not a fussy eater. In fact, before meeting Siddharth I didn’t use to eat outside. At that time, I would eat at home and then go for a party and there I would pick something and spend the entire evening pretending how much I am enjoying it.” As Siddharth is a foodie, Vidya says her understanding of cuisines has increased. “I understand Japanese cuisine better, appreciate Chinese without too many spices and love Italian. You can’t go horribly wrong with a pasta. I know in India, sometimes, people do put so many vegetables that it tastes like pao bhaji, but still it is quite safe.”
However, when Vidya is in kitchen, even tea is not a safe bet. “My water and milk remain separate,” she grins. “Once I tried omelette to impress Siddharth and it ended in burji. My dosas don’t take shape either.” So she was not asked to prepare a traditional meal after marriage? “No way. They couldn’t risk it. They told me we will cook for you.”
Sense of power
All this appetising talk leads us to the main course. Talking of variety, Vidya is now playing the madam of a brothel in Srijit Mukherji’s Begum Jaan. “ She is so obviously powerful and yet she is so comfortable in her skin. I found it incredible. I have met lot of successful women, women in position of power. We don’t want to admit it but we do feel the need to overcompensate for our achievements. Even this question of how do you balance work and family life emanates from that. There is this constant pressure to overcompensate. Power also has a negative connotation, sometimes. That you rub the people the wrong way by being demanding. Women are supposed to be giving, isn’t it?” But our conversation suggests that Vidya is different. “Even though we have been brought up as individuals and there were no dos and don’ts but this conditioning is centuries old. Becoming powerful is one thing and exuding it is quite another. Begum can’t be slut shamed. Today, you don’t have to be a sex worker to be called a slut. You just have to be ambitious and speak your mind. People are threatening to rape you on social media if you voice your opinion.” There is no obvious message in the period film set around Partition but Vidya says there is lot to read on freedom of choice between the lines.
Vidya insists the emergence of rebellious female characters who don’t play the victim card is a reflection of the society. “It is not that writers are cooking up these stories out of thin air. They are finding such characters around them. A Begum Jaan could have existed in any era.” True, but we are also seeing a counter conservative wave being reflected in the political spectrum. “I think the political spectrum is divorced from reality. The film looks at the Partition from citizens’ point of view. Partition was a political decision. It was never about ‘us’ and ‘them’. Similarly, today the divide is political.” But in a democracy, people vote a point of view to power? “I am not talking about one political party. Somebody did something, now somebody else is doing something else in reaction. The point is religion has become the preserve of politicians. I was brought up as a Hindu but will I not bow my head when I pass a mosque or church? Of course, I will.” Finally, we have the meat!
Maggi memories
“When I am hungry, I can’t work. The climax of Begum Jaan was very physically and emotionally demanding. Before the shoot in Jharkhand, Srijit took us to the fabulous Banalakshmi near Santiniketan, where we were put up. The food tasted like home-cooked. I didn’t realise that he was preparing us for the ordeal ahead. During the shoot, our hands would get soiled and we would get so tired that our staff had to feed us Maggi. A month’s stock of noodles must have been consumed during the climax. Everybody says, it is unhealthy but during night shoots if you don’t have Maggi with coffee, you won’t be able to finish!”
On nepotism in Bollywood
“As someone who is not from the industry, I never felt that. I think I have reached here purely on merit. Though some of the choices that Kangana(Ranaut) has made are similar to what I have done but as far as nepotism is concerned that’s her experience. My experience is that you can be yourself and still no one can stop you from going ahead. You are the only one who stands in the way of your success.”
