LOVES

Versatile, vivacious, victorious Vidya Ba/an was in the city to launch the upcoming Film Festival of India

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These lyrics fro m Gerri Halliwell's chartbuster Strmgth of ti Wo111a11 were racing th rough my mind as I waited co meet the actress who has been of late proclaimed as the 'Fourth Khan' or 'the female Big B' of the Inruan film industry.

Year 2011 - 12 bas certainl y been big for Vidya Balan, who continues to reap the rewards for her stellar performances in movies like The Dirty Picture and Knba11i. In essaying the ro les of the seductive 'Silk' and the hapless 'Vidya Bagchi', Vidya not only made a stro n g talent statement, but she set a trend for women -oriented films where heroines are not just chosen for decorative purposes le was easy co warm up to the articulate and media savvy Vidya. Looku.1g slimmer than lase year, she was still g lowing with the effect of the success that is currently her travelling compmuon.

This was Vidya's second visi t to Melbourne Last year she was here as a guest of i'v1ind Blowing Films to launch the film No One Killed]essica at the Inruan Film Festival. Thi s year, she i s the brand ambassador of the Indian Film Festival. I asked V idya how things had changed for her personally in the year she mrned from srar to superstar.

"It's nice to hear that peop le think 1 am a superstar," said Vidya, grace folly adjusting her elegant Sabyasachi sari. Taking a momeur m think she continued, "I think Thave got a lot bus ier. There is hardly much rime to breathe, bur.I am enj oying every moment. The fact that The Dirty Pictm·e and Kaha11i have received critical and commercial success is really a validation of my beliefs and] am most grateful for that. I an1 completely hwnbled by all the love and acclaim that has come my way."

\'X'inner of the.Natio nal Film Award for Best Actress, five Pilmfare awards as well a~ three consecutive Sore.en Awards for Best Actress, V idya is a fe ted actress in Inrua a nd offers for endorsements, causes, charities come in by the spade-full. So wbac made her accept the oppo r rµn.ity co become the brancl ambassador for the Film Festival of India 1h Melbourne?

"When I came co Melbourne last year I received such a warm welcome chat I decided I would be back soo n," she said " ] am honoured to be the Festival Ambassador this year This festival offers a ruverse choice nf cinema not o nly frotn Inrua bm a lso from neighbouring countries like Nepa.I, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri L-anka. Iudi an cinem,i. reaches across many genres and many styles and it would make me proud to introduce Lhis inc:redible indusuy LO Australian film lovers".

"l am a greedr actress," said Vidya. "I wo uld love co do a role in any country, mciurung Ausu:alia. frwill give me an opportunity to work on I.be Ausu:alilin-accennhat I find quire imeresring'·.

"lvfy o nly con dition," s he added jokingly, "is tha t the film has to be shown in Melbourne and they may want to give m e an honorary cicizenship as well".

During her last vis it to Melbourne, Vidya had waxed lyrical of her affection for Me lbourne and its peop le. Thi s year too she expressed similar sentiments

"What does one of die most talented actresses in India li ke about one of the most live ab le cities in the world?" 1 asked.

Thi s time tl1ere was no pausing co think and her response was quick.

"I love Melbourne because I tbin.k it is m ode rn; however ic has retained an old world charm. It is n or cold like other countries that I have v isited. There is a certain warmth and romance abo[Lt li1felbourne and it reminds m e co some extent o f Kolkata. It could be because both cities have trams. I hope to ge t some time from my hectic schedule to take a ride 011 Melbourne's famous tram".

Despite not seeing much of Melbourne on her last trip, Vidya found the people so warm and welcoming that she was happy to return.

"I remember m y trip to MCG last year. People in Iurua loved ph o tos of my visic to the mecca of wo.cld sports," she said.

Even though V idya is not a sports buff and confesses to pos sessing limited know ledge o f footy, she was happy m vi sit the MCG again this year to present the ball to tl1e umpire at the Richmond Tigers versus Sydney Swans match. " Honestly I don't really kn ow much about foory, but where else would 1 ger to see so many hot men in the same place at the same time," said Vidya with a tongue-in-cheek grin.

Speaking of eye candy, the versacile actress confessed that she al ways wanted to meet Australian actor Hugh Jackman, who she clain1s is quite 'hot'. Her ,vish came true when Hugh visited Inrua for a FI CCI conference and she met him at an awards ceremony there. She even got to perform a little dance jig with Hugh and Shahrnkh Khan on stage "lt was a memorab le event for me and hopefully for them:' Vidya good-humouredly quipped

Vidya who turned 34 recently, has admitted m dating UTV head honcho Siddharth Roy Kapoor, whom she so metimes refers to as 'SRK'. Wedding bells however, are not co be heard in tl1e near future, as VB wants to focus o n cbe trajectory of her career. An d even d1ough. she loves Melbourne and thinks of it as a romancic place, she was hesirant to commit that she would choose this city for her honepnoon. "l haven't really tlmught about where I woul d like to go fo r my honeymoo n," she said with a smile.

V idya Balan made her debut in the Bengali film, BhCtlo Tbeko (2003), in a role which was much appreciated. She then made he-r debut in Bollywood i n Pa1i11eet11 (2006) and excelled in her role, winning the Award for Best Female Debuta.nr. She appeared in the blockbuster L:rge Roho J\t!Jflmo 13/Jai (2006) 1n 2007, she acted in Mani Rarnam's G11m as a girl suffering fro m multiple sclerosis, and in S,1/aa111-e-Tshq, Bkltl1!)'0: Tbe Rqy(ll G11t11rl, Hay Bai?J.y and Bhool Bhula[)'aa. Ali these films proved her versatility an<l her defiance to not fit into the glrun doll mouJd of Bollywoo<l actre~ses. Vidya then played Lhe role of a young, independent, siogle mother struggling with her son 's progeria syndrome in Paa (2009). He r portrayal of the ro le stood aparc from the usual Bollywood 'ma ' roles and got ber rave reviews from critics as well as the audience. True to her spi rit of doing somethi n g different, Vidya then acted in T.rhq!J'a (20 10) and won accolades for tl1e portrayal of t h e seductive widow. Not only are ber roles unconven ti onal, so are her endorsements. Vidya has very recently agreed to become tbe Sanitation Ambassador for an India n Government p r o ject called Nirm al Bharat Abhiyaan The programme i s aimed at spreading awareness abo ut sanitation and cleanliness i n the cou ntry. VB has agreed co campaign for two years, and will be involved i n tl1is restructured vers ion of the Total Sanitation

Cam paign l was curious to know bow she agreed to the not- sog l a m ouro u s o r co n ve n tio nall y safe cause tlrnt invo lved propagating hygiene and opposing open defecatio n "I got a call from the Rural Develo p ment :Minister Jairam R amesh co ask if I was interested. We gee offers to espouse a lot of cau ses and I like to Lim.it myself to somedung mac I believe in;'' explained Vidya "lam a cleanliness freak myself a nd 1 know I will be ab le co push chis cau se strongly and ge nuinely. Sani tation in India is ilie need of the hour. Look at the infant mortality races, tl1ey are shocking T h e m ortality rate is often affected by lack of sanitation. Ir also impacts on oilier areas of Life. There are still schools in India tlrnt do not h ave toilets. We will be woi:ki n g :ac various levels :and very basic levels n ot just mrough ads, but also by visiting several places It will invol ve a rime bm I strongly believe that t h e sanitarioo campaign needs co become a national obsession," she a d ded

1 am not sure about ilie future of dus campaign but Vid ya Balan i s currently enjoying a fair bit of internatio nal atten tio n , judging by tl1e mrnouc at the opening of her movie The Dirry Picture at Hoycs Mel bourne rece n tly. Fans from P akistan, Sri L anka, Fiji, A u stral ia, B dtain, Canada and India were present to experience t h e VB charm in person. And charming she was as s h e ch arred, joked, autographed and photogr aphed witl1 her fans brieAy, befote being whis k ed awar to another assignment. The fans were left co watch The Dir!J Pict11re of a clean, ca n did a nd con scie n tious actress.

ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT AND ENTERTAINMENl!

Bollywood has come co town an d this winter w ill be abuzz wjth events, celeb rities, g uests, screenin gs and master-classes for lndian film lovers in Melbourne. The cinematic feast of dfocrsity has many SLLtnptuou s offe rs for cine-goers From June L1-22, the festival will showcase over 40 Jilms from art-ho u se w mass enter rain ment, an imation co n ew wave. mainly from the Indian s u b co n tinent along w ith a selection of especially rnra te d fi lms from Bangladesh, Palcistan, Sri Lanka and Nep al.

The p iece de resistance will be the presence of stunning fo r m er i'vliss

Wo rld and BollywoodStar P riya nka

Cho pra and fab abs Bollywood ac:tor

Shahid Kapoor for the o p ening night on J rn1e 1 I J\ffec cionatcly known as the Young Com mander, Tamil

Superstar Vijay will a lso be p resent b efore the screening of Na11bm1 (Tamil remake of 3 lrliots) o n J une 12.

Other festival guest.~ in clude

I n dia's respec ted B engali fihn maker Rituparno Go!th, a\1,.rrd- winning writer/director Kunal Kohli and acclaimed p rod ucer /director Vick y Bahri . I nreracti.ve master classes will b e cond LLcted by filmmak er fuljk umar

Hiran.i and screenwriter Abh ijat Joshi the successful cl , ,o behind I n dia's largest grossing fi lms Mannabhai and 3 Jc/jots

I ndian designer Sabyasach

Mukherjee w ill h old a master class them<.:d aro u nd 'Talking Through Fabrics' while award-\vinn.iog director

Jugal [ lansraj will share bis knowledge an d und erstan ding of opportunities through animation. T h e master classes axe designed ro create di alogu e between I ndian and Victori an film practi tioners.

A panel disc ussion on cop roduction possibilities between Australia and India will be c.xplorecl and con tribu tions will be sought to realize this mutual cinematic connection.

·n,e popufar Western Onion Sh orr Film Competi tion will be h eld again to , mcarth new filmmakers an d help them to realize their d reams. The theme of this year's competition will be 'Connections'. A panel of judges including R a jkumar llirani, Mick Molloy, Kabir Khan and Kunal Kohli will sdcct t h e winning entries from lndia, Australia an d New Zealand Th e wi nnin g 1-i lms will also find exposure d Lu-ing tl, e Fcscival.

Fcsti,,al D irector Mitu B howmick

Lange. h as been successfully b ringing Bollywood to Melb o urne since the first I n di an F ilm F es tival h eld in April 2009. As a director (> f ~lin cl Blowing Films that c ttrrcntly distributes Indian film and tl1catrical releases in Australia, New Zealand and F iji, Mitu B howmick Lange live$, loves and d reams fadian li lrns 1-le r p assion is shared with the ha.rd wo r king team at Mind B!m,~ng F ilms Together t hey assiduo usl)' prepare for this major event by encouraging creativ ity and w vcr.sity.

The P remier of Victoria Teel B aillieu annol!Occcl J\Uncl B lowing F illlls as the suc.;essful t<:nderer fo r the p resentation of the Festival this year ''l'h e V ictorian Government is com min:cd to srrcngth cning ci es becwcen Victoria a n d Inp.ia as well as developing a g r eater muLual unclersrao cling of our respective screen ind ustries", Mr Baillicu said at the P ress Conference held at the Investmen t Centre on Collins Street. lndian Film Festival 2012 brand ambassador actress Vidya Balan and Fc.~tival D irector .Micu Bhowmick bo1.h invited Melbournians to celebrate ilie @ms and i ilrn makers o f the world's biggest cinema industry. right in the h eart of tvrcl b ourne "This festival has always b clicvcJ tl1at cinema (like that other Ln d.ian obsession, cricket) can bridge the gap between different cultures and last year severa.Lmagic moml'.OtS only c emente d that bclid," said 11itu.

"This ye.11.r again there is something for everyone!" sh e ad d c<l.