Rekha praises Vidya Balan's ‘unconventional' beauty: ‘I gained a daughter in her’

Rekha talked about her bond with Vidya Balan and recalled how she gave her first ever audition for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film Parineeta.

Bollywood actor Vidya Balan’s Parineeta recently completed 20 years. On Monday, Vidhu Vinod Chopra hosted a special screening in Mumbai to mark the occasion, which was attended by Vidya, Rekha, Dia Mirza, and others. During the event, Rekha heaped praise on Vidya's unconventional approach to talent and her beauty and talked about the bond they share.

Rekha talked about her bond with Vidya Balan during Parineeta's special screening.

Rekha reveals giving audition for Parineeta

Speaking about bagging the song Kaisi Paheli Zindagaani in Parineeta, Rekha said, “This was the first film in my life I ever auditioned for. I didn’t even know what it meant back then. Vidhu Vinod Chopra told me that if I didn’t audition, I was out. Honestly, I am here because of Vidya. When I asked Vidhu who was in the film, he told me Saif, Sanjay, and Vidya, and I asked, ‘Who is this Vidya?’ Then he said he would send me some footage and told me to watch it, and only if I felt like doing the film should I agree. He sent me the song, I saw it, and I called up Farazanaji and told her we were doing this film.”

Rekha also praised Vidya’s “unconventional beauty and approach to her craft” and said, “She was there already before she was born; she was Parineeta. I didn’t know the film had been made earlier too, but for me Parineeta is Vidya Balan. I gained a daughter in Vidya. Throughout the making of Kaisi Paheli, she sat there without even blinking. After the whole song was done, she came to my vanity van, held my hand and kissed it, saying she had learnt so much. But watching this film today, I want to say, I don’t think I have learnt as much as I have learnt watching her.”

About Parineeta

Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, the 2005 film is an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1914 Bengali novella of the same name. It starred Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, and Vidya Balan (in her Bollywood debut) in lead roles, with Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, and Dia Mirza in supporting roles. The film received positive reviews upon release and became a success, collecting ₹30.29 crore worldwide. Marking Vidya’s Bollywood debut, Parineeta is set to re-release across select theatres in India on August 29 for a week.