‘I Felt Like Sh*t for Months’: Vidya Balan Recalls Horrifying Experience With Tamil Producer

Vidya Balan was last seen in Jagan Shakti’s ‘Mission Mangal’.

Vidya Balan, who received much appreciation for her last role in Mission Mangal, in an interview opened up about the casting couch incidents that she has faced in the past and how badly they scarred her.

She also talked about how she has grown beyond these incidents and does not let them affect her anymore. Remembering one of her first casting couch incidents she said, “One day I remember I was in Chennai and this director came to meet me. I said let’s sit in the coffee shop and he kept insisting that he wants to talk to me and that we should go to the room. I left the door of my room open and he left within five minutes.”

But that’s not all. Things took a worse turn for Balan when she was later replaced in 12 Tamil films as her role in them had been agreed upon verbally without a contract. She recalled that one time her parents had been in Chennai and met a producer who suggested to them that their daughter did not look like a heroine.

“I felt ugly…I felt like sh*t for months and I don’t think I looked at myself in the mirror… I didn’t like what I saw because I thought I was ugly…For the longest time, I did not forgive that man, but today, thanks to that I realised that I have to love and accept myself the way I am,” Vidya said while recalling the incident.

Nevertheless, despite the increasing criticism around her, Balan found the strength to put her head down and ignore them. Regarding this, she said, “Someone wrote that ‘Dress like this, she has no business of getting out, she should stay indoors’. That had affected me so much that for the longest time, I would get dreams of it and get really angry. Today, I don’t let the noise get to me.”

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