Vidya Balan is not interested in TV shows

National Award winner Vidya Balan started her acting stint on the small screen in 1995 with a comedy show called Hum Paanch, where she played one of five ­sisters. The actor, who never returned to television after her Bollywood debut in 2005 with Parineeta, says she is no longer interested in the medium.

National Award winner Vidya Balan started her acting stint on the small screen in 1995 with a comedy show called Hum Paanch, where she played one of five ­sisters. The actor, who never returned to television after her Bollywood debut in 2005 with Parineeta, says she is no longer interested in the medium. “The ­makers of many TV shows have approached me, and I’ve been ­rejecting them. The content on TV is very unexciting at this point. The ­concepts of fiction shows are poor and repetitive. I am not interested in television anymore. Fiction shows should be more ­meaningful,” says Vidya.

Vidya-Balan

The 37-year-old says that she may consider TV only if the content matches the level of writing in ­international shows: “When the writing gets to a level of Mad Men or Six Feet Under, then I will be more than happy to do TV shows,” she says.

Vidya adds that if she really likes the concept, she wouldn’t mind doing a talk show. “There are two ideas I was approached for sometime back, but I’ve asked the makers to develop the concept first. If I like the final concept, then maybe I will go ahead,” says Vidya, who made a mark for herself with powerful roles in films such as Paa (2009) and Kahaani (2012).