Vidya Balan has built her career by turning away from the formula. From her early days in Parineeta to her recent outing as the haunted Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, she’s always gone for roles that allow her to stretch beyond the surface. And now, she’s looking beyond borders, towards global stories that carry weight and depth.
In a recent conversation during the Cannes season, Vidya spoke openly about the kind of characters that excite her today. One that’s stuck with her? A therapist in Adolescence, the gritty British drama on Netflix. It’s a role that, to her, captures the kind of emotional intensity she’s craving. “That’s top of my list right now,” she said, drawn to the show’s nuanced take on mental health, masculinity, and the digital chaos young people live in.
At Cannes Vidya opened up about her ambition to explore roles across bordersGetty Images
Vidya’s also interested in bringing out her lighter side. “I’d love to do comedy,” she said, adding that Kate Winslet’s offbeat dictator in The Regime struck a chord with her. She also applauded Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon for the choices they’ve made in their careers, especially choosing roles that balance vulnerability, complexity, and wit.
What Vidya craves, whether in India or abroad, are roles with layers. She’s frustrated by the way female characters in mainstream Hindi films often feel flat. “They lack depth,” she said, which makes them less human and harder to connect with. That’s why she’s proud of projects like Paa, Shakuntala Devi, and Tumhari Sulu, films that gave her space to explore women who weren’t just sidekicks or stereotypes.
Vidya Balan shared she hopes for more complex and human portrayals of women in cinema worldwideGetty Images
Though she’s won awards and earned box office success, Vidya believes Indian cinema still has a long way to go in treating women’s stories as commercially viable. And with streaming reshaping the rules of the game, she sees a chance for reinvention, not just for herself, but for the entire industry.
She’s ready to take risks again. And this time, the world is her stage.
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