Bollywood has always been a male dominated industry. But in such industry, actress Vidya Balan has become a force to be reckoned with. The actress has delivered hits like ‘No One Killed Jessica’, ‘Ishqiya’ and ‘The Dirty Picture’ single handedly.
The actress is now gearing up for the release of Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Kahaani’, in which she plays a pregnant lady in search of her husband.
The movie solely lies on Vidya Balan’s shoulders as the movie has no male lead. But director Sujoy Ghosh isn’t nervous as he is sure that Vidya Balan’s credibility will speak for itself and ensure a good opening.
“It definitely ensures me a good opening but I am not sure if it is a game-changer because this film will have to speak for itself. But yes, after ‘Paa’, ‘Ishqiya’, ‘No One Killed Jessica’ and now ‘The Dirty Picture’, Vidya has created a stamp of quality, which is very good,” said Sujoy Ghosh in an interview with a daily.
The director admitted that he wrote the movie with Vidya Balan in mind.
“Yes, it was first Vidya, then ‘Kahaani’. I always wanted to work with her. It is a story about a woman who is pushed into an alien environment where she has to survive, protect her child, look for her husband and find the truth. The film is about the maternal instinct,” he said.
The director also said that it had taken him 2 years to develop ‘Kahani’ as nobody was willing to pay him and it was only Vidya Balan who believed in the project.
“Nobody wants to give me money to make a film. That's why I have to write a film, go out, beg for money and then make one. I spent around two years developing ‘Kahaani's’ story and we shot it in 52 days. It was the most challenging movie I have ever made. It was a movie that only Vidya and I believed in,” he said.
“I discussed the basic idea with Vidya. Initially it wasn't working out but we finally cracked it and I wrote the story. Then Aladin flopped and I got many 'No's'. But I could only make it because she fully supported me. It was a challenge because on paper it had a huge budget. We knew we couldn't make it with a big budget as we could not take a solo Vidya Balan to that level. We had to be practical. So we went to Kolkata, and shot,” he added.
According to the director Vidya Balan had no qualms in playing a role of a pregnant lady throughout the movie.
“She is a very brave actress and was quite excited. The story demanded a pregnant protagonist. For an actress, it doesn't matter whether she is playing a glamorous role or a pregnant woman. That's her job,” he said.
“I left everything to Vidya. I never tell actors how to act. That is what they are supposed to bring to the table. Vidya's sister was pregnant at that point of time, so that helped her with the nuances of pregnancy,” he added.
The movie ‘Kahaani’ has no known male actor, which is first of a kind in Bollywood.
“This film is a journey of this woman, so the husband doesn't have a lot of footage. Normally, if you take a known actor or a big face, it works against you in such a film,” the director concluded.
The movie releases on March 9th.