Vidya Balan recalls when a producer made her feel ugly: ‘Didn’t have courage to look in the mirror for six months’

Vidya Balan has said that she was once made to feel so ugly that she did not have the courage to look at herself in the mirror. This was at the time when she was replaced in several films in a short span of time. The actor said she had a low phase in her career when she was replaced in more than a dozen films. (Also read: Vidya Balan says ‘it’s better time to be female actor’; Shefali Shah agrees)

Vidya, who will be next seen in investigation thriller Jalsa alongside Shefali Shah, also recalled that there was one particular replacement that made her so enraged that she walked straight from Marine Drive to Bandra in a hot weather.

In a new interview with Prabhat Khabar, Vidya said, “In the recent times, I have received calls from them (producers who earlier replaced her in their films) but I politely refused to be part of their films. I was kicked out of 13 films. When one producer replaced me in a film, their behaviour with me was very bad. They made me feel so ugly that for six months, I could not gather the courage to look at myself in the mirror.”

Vidya also recalled her reaction to one such rejection that she got around 2003-2004 and told the Hindi daily, “I had signed two films with K Balachander at a time when I was being replaced in many films. I got to know that I was also replaced in Balachander’s film and I was not even informed. I could sense something was wrong because we were supposed to go to New Zealand for the shoot but they hadn’t even asked for my passport. When my mom called Balachander’s daughter, we got to know that I had been replaced.” Vidya said that she was very angry and started walking from Marine Drive to Bandra even though it was very hot in the day. “I realised I had been walking for hours. I cried a lot. Those memories are hazy now but whatever I touched in those three years, turned useless.”

Having made her acting debut with the popular comedy show Hum Paanch, Vidya has worked in films such as Parineeta, Bhool Bhulaiyya, and Halla Bol. Over the past few years, she has made a space for herself and is one of the top actors in the industry. Most recently, she was seen in critically acclaimed films such as Shakuntala Devi, Sherni, and Natkhat.

Vidya is currently gearing up for the release of her new film, Jalsa. Starring Shefali Shah, Manav Kaul, Rohini Hattangadi, and Iqbal Khan in important roles, the film will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on March 18.