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This is an archive article published on December 9, 2011
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Opinion Unafraid to take the lead

Vidya Balan put herself first,in an industry where a woman’s ultimate ambition is to play second fiddle to a superstar Khan

Harneet Singh

December 9, 2011 03:47 AM IST First published on: Dec 9, 2011 at 03:47 AM IST

Who doesn’t love comeuppance? Cinema thrives on it. People like you and I wait for it. If life is kind,there comes a defining moment — a reset button — when everything is evened out. The past with its failures,disappointments and sniggers stops to matter. You’ve got to earn this power of reset,but once you do,the user’s guide is fairly simple: you hit once,but hard. And then just ride the wave. Much like Vidya Balan.

Vidya Balan,currently being hailed as the “only hero” amongst the heroines,has gone far in getting the box office,ummm… dirty. The six-day total of The Dirty Picture (TDP) is an impressive Rs 49. 23 crore. (The net box office collections breakdown: Friday: Rs 9.54 crore,Saturday: Rs 10.78 crore,Sunday: Rs 12.38 crore,Monday: Rs 5.72 crore,Tuesday: Rs 6.21 crore,Wednesday: Rs 4.6 crore). This is massive booty. Trends predict that TDP will cross the first-week collections of Hrithik Roshan-Farhan Akhtar starrer Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The “only hero” claim doesn’t seem too far-fetched now,does it?

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Paa,Ishqiya,No One Killed Jessica and now The Dirty Picture. It’s quite a little era that Ms. Balan is knitting for herself. So when did Vidya become the nation’s ooh la la fantasy? When did she get her mojo on?

The Vidya Balan renaissance occurred at the same time that her contemporaries decided to go for the blockbuster formula — become the decorative pieces in the big set-up with a superstar Khan in the lead. Let’s break it down: for all her box office clout and signing spree with the Khans,the biggest noise that Kareena Kapoor made this year was for her dance number Chammak Challo. Katrina Kaif’s biggest calling card is still Sheila Ki Jawani. Priyanka Chopra’s last hit was Dostana in 2008. Balan,in the meantime,went about consolidating her chips as a performer,never mind the Khans. For her,it became all about if you can’t join ’em,well then,beat ’em.

Vidya Balan’s been around. After a spate of TV commercials,a few Euphoria music videos and a television stint in Ekta Kapoor’s Hum Paanch,she earned her dream debut in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra,however,approved her after 17 make-up shoots and 40 screen tests. She followed that up with her chirpy “Goooooodmorning Mumbai” gig in Lage Raho Munnabhai. Then Phase 2 happened. She was clobbered for her frumpy dress sense in Heyy Babyy and her teenybopper attempt in Kismet Konnection opposite Shahid Kapoor was painful to watch.

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She also knows it,so I’ll say it,but people behind her back used to call her “Vidya aunty” and comparisons with Gracy Singh were being circulated as SMS jokes. It was during this phase that she discovered her reset button. She took time off and came back with a new strategy. She became the go-to girl for all that was forbidden for her contemporaries. So when the other girls were getting page-one hits for being size zero and getting the bikini jitters,Vidya was out there sucking her co-star’s thumbs.

The Dirty Picture is a game-changer,not just for Vidya,but for an industry always hesitant to put faith in a woman-driven subject. Ekta Kapoor and her leading lady have shown the way it can be done. These are the real desi girls,who have stolen the thunder of all the Desi Boyz.

So what’s going to be Vidya’s next move? We can’t wait.

harneet.singh@expressindia.com