Vidya Balan Recalls Parineeta Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra Telling Her To Get A Nose Job: "It's Too Long"

NDTV

21 hours ago

New Delhi:
Vidya Balan completed 20 years in the industry this year. While most would look at her career graph replete with diverse choices, the actress had her battles, such as bodyshaming and being questioned about her looks. One of them was when Vidhu Vinod Chopra, her first director for Parineeta, asked her to get a nose job done.
What's Happening
Vidya Balan recently spoke to Filmfare and revealed how Vidhu Vinod Chopra had called her "nose too long" during Parineeta. The film marked Vidya Balan's big Bollywood debut in 2005.
Vidya Balan told Filmfare, "Yes, he actually said, 'Your nose is too long, let's get a surgery done.' I refused. I've never had anything done to my face, just the odd facial. I've always believed in keeping my face the way God made it. During a Malayalam film, they suggested I drop 'Balan' and use my community name, just like Manju Warrier or Samyuktha Varma. I changed it to Vidya Iyer and cried. My parents reminded me I'd always be Vidya Balan."
She added, "That film didn't happen anyway. That's when I knew: if something doesn't feel right, it's not meant to be. When Parineeta was coming together, I asked Dada (Pradeep Sarkar) to ensure no one brought up the nose job again. He did, firmly. He said if Vidya works, the film works because Lalita is Parineeta. He was a true artist. Every shot was drawn out on paper. Even in his final ad film, I'm told he still carried his plastic folder with the shot breakdowns."
Vidya Balan further elaborated on how Parineeta was a dream debut, and very few people get an opportunity like that. However, people wanted to make her look "younger and sexier" constantly.
She added, "I was incredibly lucky to debut like that. Very few get that kind of launch. Hrithik (Roshan) in Kaho Na...Pyaar Hai is the only other one that comes to mind. Overnight, people knew me. I won Best Debut at Filmfare and got invited to events. Top directors started calling. But at photo shoots, they'd say, 'Let's try something new with you,' and I'd think, 'What have you even seen of me to want something new?' They'd say, 'Let's make you look younger and sexy.' And I was open to experimenting. But after a while, it got frustrating. I wasn't a girl. I was 26 and very much a woman."
"It annoyed me, especially during shoots, where I felt pressured to act younger, something I just didn't relate to. I hadn't grown up on film magazines or learnt how to pose. Acting was always my focus. I hadn't even seen International glossies. What thrilled me was being on the set, working with legends like Rajkumar Santoshi, Nikkhil Advani, Mani Ratnam and big names like Sajid Nadiadwala and Akshay Kumar. That's what really mattered to me," concluded the actress.
Work
Vidya Balan was last seen in Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, alongside Triptii Dimri, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Kartik Aaryan. She was also seen in Do Aur Do Pyaar, with Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D'Cruz, and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
In A Nutshell
Vidya Balan got candid about how she was once asked by Vidhu Vinod Chopra to get a surgery done to fix her nose. She added that she had refused since she had never got anything done to her face.