Vidya Balan

Vidya P. Balan, Vidya Balan Roy Kapur

Vidya Balan (born January 1, 1979) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. After appearing in the television sitcom *Hum Paanch* (1995) and the Bengali independent film *Bhalo Theko* (2003), she made her Hindi feature debut in the musical drama *Parineeta* (2005), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her subsequent releases included *Lage Raho Munna Bhai* (2006), *Guru* (2007), and the psychological comedy thriller *Bhool Bhulaiyaa* (2007). Balan earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the comedy drama *Paa* (2009), followed by the black comedy *Ishqiya* (2010), for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. For her portrayal of Silk in the biographical drama *The Dirty Picture* (2011), she won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She earned a third Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the mystery thriller *Kahaani* (2012). Her credits during this period included *No One Killed Jessica* (2011), *Kahaani 2* (2016), and *Tumhari Sulu* (2017), which earned her a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In 2019, Balan expanded into South Indian cinema with the two-part biographical drama *N.T.R: Kathanayakudu* and *N.T.R: Mahanayakudu*, and appeared in the Tamil release *Nerkonda Paarvai* and *Mission Mangal*. Her subsequent projects included the biographical drama *Shakuntala Devi* (2020), *Sherni* (2021), *Jalsa* (2022), *Neeyat* (2023), *Do Aur Do Pyaar* (2024), and *Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3* (2024). In 2026, she appeared in the historical drama *Raja Shivaji* and *The Last Tenant*.