10th March, Mumbai: While talking to Humans of Bombay about how it was not an instant yes for the role of Paa’s mother in the movie and how Karan Johar played Cupid in her relationship with Siddharth Roy Kapur
That wasn’t an instant “yes,” reveals Vidya Balan, who initially believed R Balki was “crazy” for asking her to play Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in Paa. In R Balki’s Paa, Vidya Balan portrayed the mother of Amitabh Bachchan’s 12-year-old character. The actress Vidya Balan admitted that she hesitated before accepting the role of Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in the movie Paa. In the R Balki-directed film Paa, Amitabh played a 12-year-old with the progeria disease. In an interview, Vidya acknowledged that before approving the project, she forwarded the script to a few friends to get their feedback.
“I took forever to say yes to that project,” she admitted to Humans of Bombay, “because when Balki approached me, I initially wondered, ‘What kind of tale is this? He has a fit. What made him choose me to play Amitabh Bachchan’s mother? I only ever gave a couple of my buddies that one script. Since I realised that it’s a superb writing when the initial shock subsided.” As an actor, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, but I wanted to wait until a few people had read it and given me their feedback. They all cried out, “Oh God, you have to do this.” But it took me some time before I agreed. It wasn’t a deliberate choice. Yet I was acting on instinct. She and Amitabh are a very different age. She was born in 1979, whilst he was born in 1942. Paa, which also starred Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, wasn’t a big hit; according to Bollywood Hungama, movie barely generated about Rs 30 crore. Nonetheless, Amitabh’s lead performance was praised, earning him the National Award for Best Actor.
The actress Vidya Balan reflected on her romance with the producer Siddharth Roy Kapur and claimed that Karan Johar acted as Cupid for the couple. 2012 saw the marriage of Vidya and Siddharth, who had been dating for some time. She spoke about Siddharth’s proposal to her in an interview, albeit she appeared unsure of how much to reveal. As he inquired about the progress of the photo session, Vidya recollected thinking that he was “a very good-looking, lovely man.” When someone informed Vidya that Siddharth was married during the shoot, she assumed the matter was resolved. But she later learned that he had been divorced. It wasn’t anything I sought, chased, or planned; it was just one of those flash thoughts. They later met at a play and a party, she continued, adding that “life was bringing us together a lot at that time.”
“Karan Johar has played Cupid in this relationship,” she concluded. I didn’t know this guy very well, so I felt it was nice of him to ask me to a party at his house. I was a little shy and didn’t really know most of the other people. Then Siddharth enters, and as we had just seen the play together, we ended up chatting. And at that point, something took place. I discovered afterwards that Karan had requested our meeting. This was a purposeful invitation, and it was successful. Vidya joked that she was going to come into Karan’s office and ask him to introduce her to someone after telling her parents that she wanted someone in her life. He was joking, but she admitted that she was ashamed that he would even consider it. In the same interview, Vidya also stated that she and Siddharth made the decision to never collaborate again following the commercial failure of a movie (likely Ghanchakkar). They reasoned that being dejected simultaneously isn’t the best scenario to be in because poor points require emotional support all the time.