It's Vidya, with a V

A few weeks ago, at the biggest and most farcical of the Hindi film award shows, Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor joshed about how Bollywood was ruled by three Ks: Khan, Kapoor and Kleavage,

a sly dig highlighting exactly why they think The Dirty Picture was a smash hit. They weren’t alone, with several industry commentators believing that despite the powerhouse performance at

the core of an admittedly cheesy film, all irony was lost in what could undeniably be viewed as an exploitative film about exploitation. Undeterred, Vidya Balan’s gone ahead and done her

thing, having most recently shone the spotlight on that most important (and most criminally neglected) K of all, Kahaani. Sujoy Ghosh’s finely crafted new film once again sees the actress

sink her teeth into her kind of part: meaty as a 6oz. steak, cooked very rare. It is a nuanced film with a smashing ensemble, and while we may here hail Sujoy for digging deep after a pair

of catastrophic misfires (Home Delivery, Aladdin), the fact remains that Balan is the reason his film – one otherwise destined for top reviews and warm indie-movie applause – has become a

commercial sensation. And it has nothing to do with her body. (Also, if all it took were curves and a willingness to flaunt them, Ameesha Patel and Malaika Arora’s kid sister would have

flourishing careers.) Currently, Bollywood’s not entirely sure what to make of Balan, the woman behind two unprecedented back to back hero-free hits. (I’d have counted No One Killed Jessica

along with The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, but Rani Mukerji took on the traditional leading man archetype in that one.) Ours is a tragically sexist industry, and here’s a woman eschewing the

trappings and making herself a star merely by insisting on cinema where the script gives her something to do. Hurrah. Compare that to Kareena Kapoor, who was in two historically humongous

successes last year, excelling in the role of A-list arm candy. Being able to fetch a film an opening at the box office without a popular leading man at its centre is no small feat, but

being able to successfully carry off two highly commercial films where there isn’t even a ‘hero’ role in the script feels unprecedented. She started off prettily enough in Parineeta and Lage

Raho Munna Bhai, but then stumbled around like a misfit, sticking out in mainstream entertainers while tabloids raced to find the cruelest adjectives to describe her wardrobe. At which

point she evidently decided the cookie-cutter mould just wasn’t woman enough for her, and started taking on challenging characters, eschewing both predictability and screen glamour. In her

most recent film, she waddles around a sweaty city, so heavily pregnant as if with a teenager. In the one before that, her paunch eventually outdoes her décolletage. (Further comparison to

Ms Kapoor is hardly necessary.) Clearly Balan is a woman who understands that sometimes the most unflattering angle actually shows you in the nicest light. She isn’t our fin

est actress, but it’s fascinating watching her grow with each performance, all the while gathering nuances, like a snowball rolling determinedly down Mount Talent. Her simple but enviable

ability to let the scene and the words do the acting for her, instead of spelling everything out for the camera, is a skill of its own amid her screechingly demonstrative peers. The rest

coasts on her skyrocketing confidence. She’s genuinely enjoying putting herself out on a limb, and that hunger is pushing her boundaries as an actress, honing her craft and making her

better. That National Award might have come already, but we’re far from having seen the best of Vidya Balan. Like I said, she isn’t our finest actress. Yet.