Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is powerhouse of talent. She has worked in multiple blockbuster films from South to North and has always won praises for her portrayals. But achieving great heights in her career and reaching a place where she is today was no cakewalk for Vidya. In a recent interview, the actress opened up on her struggles during early stage of career.

Vidya’s mother harboured acting dream

Vidya said that she came from a strict South Indian family. Her parents were not supportive of her career in acting. And so, it became difficult for Vidya to make her parents mind so that they let her act in films.

Vidya revealed that somewhere her mother also wanted to pursue acting and she is the one who passed it on to her. She shared how she was mesmerized by Madhuri Dixit’s dance in the song ‘Ek Do Teen’ when she was eight years old.

Vidya’s first TV show was ‘Hum Paanch’

Recalling auditioning for TV shows during her college, Vidya insisted that her first show never worked but at that time, she got ‘Hum Paanch’. Her parents were fine with it as they felt TV is a safe option and the show is a clean family watch.

“Looking back, I think everything went well. After quitting the show, I took up ad films and it worked in my favour. Had I not left TV, I would not have been doing any other work,” stated Vidya.

Was labelled as ‘Jinxed’ after first film got cancelled

Vidya told that she was a part of a Malayalam film alongside Mohanlal. But unfortunately, the project didn’t take off and it was shelved. Besides this, she was informally approached for several other films, but once the rumors about her canceled film started spreading, she was tagged as “jinxed”. Because of this, she lost many projects.

The actress quoted, “I was labelled jinxed which made me lose faith in myself. It was a difficult time and I faced a lot of rejections. Around the same time, I met Pradeep Sarkar and in the first meeting itself, he told me that he will make a film with me. So, you can say I did not choose ‘Parineeta’, the film chose me.”