Vidya Balan posed exclusively for HT during her recent visit to Delhi. She was here as the brand ambassador of a campaign to raise awareness about sanitation.
But now, audiences will see a voluptuous Vidya in Raj Kumar Gupta’s Ghanchakkar, where
she plays a typical Punjabi housewife.
“Vidya wanted to lose weight and go back to her normal body size after the release of TDP. She felt people would associate her only with particular kind of roles. But Raj Kumar was clear that he doesn’t Vidya to cut the flab and communicated the same to her,” says an insider.
Vidya Balan
When contacted, Gupta confirms that he had a “really tough time” convincing Vidya to retain the weight.
“It took some amount of persuasion. She plays a flamboyant Punjabi housewife in Ghanchakkar. So it only makes sense if she retains the weight (from TDP and Kahaani) in my film too.”
Incidentally, Vidya gained 12 kilos for TDP because her character, Silk, belongs to the south film industry.
At that time, Vidya had stated: “The actors were mostly wholesome there, especially the dancing stars. So I had to put on weight. Initially, I was a little apprehensive and I did not want to put on so many kilos, but then I realised that if I don’t do it, I wouldn’t be doing justice to the role.”