Vidya Balan on her web series on Indira Gandhi: ‘Things are moving a bit slow but I am not in any hurry’

Vidya Balan talks about the web series on ex-PM Indira Gandhi, and says it could see the light of the day in a year or two.

After Tumhari Sulu (2017), she was absent from the big screen (vis-à-vis Hindi films) until Mission Mangal came along. But Vidya Balan never “lost any sleep” over it. Instead, she was quietly working on a project she’s “really excited” about – a web series on late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. And though progress is slow, Vidya isn’t complaining.

Vidya Balan will make her debut on the web space with a series on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. (HT)

“It’s been around two years since I bought the rights to a book on Indira Gandhi, as I wanted to turn the story into a web series. But at that time, I didn’t realise a web series is a completely different format and involves a lot of work. It’s also taking a little long as the format itself is quite elaborate. That’s why writing is also taking time,” says the actor.

Ask Vidya when the series is likely to start and she says: “I don’t know exactly when, but hopefully, in a year or two. Also, there’s so much material when it comes to someone like Indiraji, and we are going through a lot of it. Things are moving a bit slow. However, I am not in any hurry. Main kahaan jaa rahi hoon (smiles).”

The National Award-winning actor says she has nothing to “prove to anyone or myself. But one thing’s for sure: I am happiest on a film set, so I want to protect that feeling”.

“It’s only in 2006 that I was a part of five films. But they were smaller roles, which required me for just 15-20 days on a particular film. But now, the kind of films I am doing, require a lot of prep followed by shooting, dubbing and promotions. All of it takes about five months. So, you anyway can’t do more than two films in a year. Kabhi kabhi, depending on what [script] I like, I may even do one film a year. Woh bhi theek hai,” adds Vidya, who will soon start shooting for her next, a biopic on mathematics genius Shakuntala Devi.

Vidya’s latest outing — Mission Mangal — right before its release, her co-star Sonakshi Sinha said that Akshay Kumar’s face was bigger on the film’s posters because ‘jo bikta hai, woh dikhta hai’. Does she agree with Sonakshi? “Yes, and in fact, I would want to take advantage of his stardom (laughs). Funda bahut simple hai. We are in the business of cinema. And if having his face prominently on the posters is going to bring in more audiences to watch the film, I will have that any day. Once people come into the theatre, they will see the film for what it is, and the fact that every one of us has prominent roles in it,” she concludes.

You started the trend of female-centric films with No One Killed Jessica (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012), etc., but they’re bracketed separately, as a specific genre. Your take?
Jab bahut saari filmein banne lagengi and we start seeing more success, everyone will take it (female-centric films) for granted. As of now, it’s mentioned as a separate genre because such films are yet to become the norm. On a rough average, if 1,000 films are made in India every year, only 20-25 are ‘female-centric’. But someday, it will be the norm and 500 films will be led by us (female actors), then no one would mention it in separate terms.

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