Vidya Balan: ‘I felt I’m not being considered for mainstream A-lister superstar films’

Vidya Balan opens up on how she was sidelined from mainstream films after she began doing female-centric and content-driven cinema.

After initially being criticised for her looks and dressing sense, she was hailed as the hero of her films after she began choosing films with strong scripts. However, Vidya Balan says she felt she was sidelined when it came to starring in films with male superstars.

Vidya Balan was recently seen in Mission Mangal and is now all set to feature in Shakuntala Devi biopic.

Vidya told Pinkavilla in an interview, “At some point, I felt I’m not being considered for mainstream A-lister superstar films. But I was enjoying the content and being the whole and soul of a film so much that I did choose this over that. But look at it, Mission Mangal has happened and it’s not just a romantic lead. It’s a prominent role and this is how I’d like it anyway.”

She had worked with Salman Khan Khan and Amitabh Bachchan earlier in her career. However, ever since she featured in Ishqiya alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi in 2010, Vidya appeared in films with comparatively smaller budgets.

It was not before last year’s Mission Mangal that she featured with an A list male actor. Based on India’s mission to Mars, the film was headline by Akshay Kumar and had five female actors - including Vidya - in prominent roles.

She also has Amit Masurkar’s Sherni in her kitty.

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