Vidya Balan will be making her Marathi debut with film Ekk Albela, based on the life of yesteryears actor, Bhagwan Dada, where Vidya plays the veteran actress, Geeta Bali. Though she plays a small part in the film, Vidya is super excited about the project… Excerpts from a tete a tete…
Earlier you had done The Dirty Picture which was loosely inspired from the life of Silk Smita and today you star in Bhagwan Dada’s biopic. Seems like you are the first choice when it comes to such films…
Yes, I was offered a few biopics in the past few years and two-three scripts were great too but since I did The Dirty Picture, I thought thode break ke baad karungi. Then I got opportunity to do Ekk Albela. This is not a biopic on Geeta Baliji’s life. You won’t see all the shades of Geetaji. We have recreated her few songs. So I don’t think it’s a biopic. But yes I do get drawn towards real life stories, which is why biopic on Bhagwan Dada also interested me.
Was it tough to recreate Geeta Bali’s character?
To play Geeta Baliji, I just had to watch her videos, because we were creating a strong film Albela. I tried to imbibe her mannerisms, especially for the dance numbers.
It must be hard bringing the iconic Shola jo bhadke song to life?
Of course, because Geetaji plays with her eyes. Her hands, her fingers too were very vocal. She used her wrist beautifully in the dance. And what I realize there is not so much body movement. The body is very light, but the hands, the eyes, the smile all of that is what was really her charm. I wasn’t so nervous about the dance. But, yes expressions are a form of dance so I tried to focus on that. Our choreographer Stanley was constantly saying, “Ma’am no Vidya Balan, only Geeta bali.”
Do you you were destined to play this character?
My husband Siddharth Roy Kapur has a lot of old films posters. He has a huge collection. He is passionate about it. We can’t put them all together on the walls so we used to rotate the posters. Jab se meri shaadi hui, sirf ek poster aisa hai jo maine badla nahi hai aur wo hai Albela. I feel it has some connection. Also I would like to add that Bhagwan Dada supposedly learnt dance from Siddharth’s maternal grandfather. Siddharth’s mother's, Salome Aaron’s father was a pioneer in bringing the western dance to India. I think I was just meant to do this. Yes, I think its destiny.
Would you like to do a full-fledged Marathi film?
Yes, why not? But uske liye mujhe apni Marathi sudhaarni hogi. I wouldn't want anybody else to dub for me. I am also doing a Malayalam film, a biopic on the author and poetess Kamala Das. I only want to do a good role, be it in any language.
How do you prepare for such tough roles?
I am not a trained actor. There is no method or anything. I just read the script and try to understand if there is any research required for the role. But beyond that it’s just instinct. And courage comes from greed. I am just a very, very greedy actor.