Vidya Balan opens up on people wanting to put her in a box, reveals ‘there was a lot of pressure to be a certain kind of heroine’ – Times of India

In an interaction with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story, Vidya revealed that the industry is obsessed with putting actors in a box, something that she could not bring herself to do. She said, “I think there was a lot of pressure to be a certain kind of heroine, which I am not. I am still discovering who I am, but I did not fit into the mold. People were constantly trying to put me in a box and put label on it.”

The Kahaani actor also opened up on playing a married woman in her debut Parineeta and how the industry was of the opinion that she lost her chances of playing a ‘young’ girl because she was married in her maiden movie. She added, “Someone told me, ‘Oh what a great break in Parineeta, but you came in as a woman, now people need to see you as a girl.’ I was a woman, I was 26 when.”
Commenting on the changing dynamics in the industry, Vidya added, “There is a bigger chance that the male led films will work compared to the women led films because that is still a big phenomena. Maybe because we don’t want to take a chance, but it is frustrating because more than ever it has been proved now that it does not matter who the hero is as people are only coming in for content and entertainment.”

Vidya’s last movie, the OTT release Jalsa garnered rave reviews from the audience. The emotional drama co-starred Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul.