Pradeep Sarkar was adamant on casting Vidya Balan in Parineeta, Vidhu Vinod Chopra wasn’t convinced: ‘I was tested over 6 months’

 Late director Pradeep Sarkar made his first film Parineeta with Vidya Balan in 2005 and such was his conviction for the actor, that he batted for her even though producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra wasn’t fully on board. This was Vidya’s first film project and the actor had faced a lot of rejection before this. In an earlier interview with Simi Garewal, Vidya had shared that “Dada was convinced I was Lolita, Mr Chopra wasn’t.” Sarkar passed away early on Friday morning at the age of 67.

Vidya, before working in the movies, worked extensively in ads and even appeared in a few music videos. She worked with Sarkar in Euphoria’s ‘Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gali’ and said “that’s what got me Parineeta.” “That was my video with Pradeep Sarkar. I had done a couple of ads with him but it was through the video that he realised that he could mould me the way he wanted to,” she said. The actor said that she was tested for “over a period of six months” before she could land the role. As per music composer Shantanu Moitra, she was tested 75 times but Pradeep was adamant that Vidya was the right choice.

At the 53rd National Film Awards, Pradeep Sarkar won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director for Parineeta.

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But the actor shared a “love-hate relationship” with the filmmaker. In a 2013 interview with DNA, Vidya said that she saw Pradeep Sarkar and his wife as her “guardians” and she fought with him like he would with her father. “Without attaching labels, Dada and his wife are like my guardians. If I can depend on somebody it’s him or her. I share a love-hate relationship with Dada. I fight with him, the way I fight with my father. He’s unaffected because except work nothing matters to him,” she had said.

Pradeep Sarkar passed away in the early hours of Friday. Neetu Chandra told indiaexpress.com, “He was admitted to a hospital last night. He was not keeping well for a long time, he was on dialysis and had other health issues too. His funeral will be today at 4 pm in Santacruz.”