Did you know Vidya Balan was initially rejected for her role in Parineeta?

Vidya Balan made her Bollywood debut with the Pradeep Sarkar-directed Parineeta, released in 2005. The film was produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who was not completely on board with the actress featured in the film. In a new interview, lyricist Swanand Kirkire revealed how the producer was convinced of Balan’s casting. 

Swanand Kirkire reveals Vidhu Vinod Chopra rejected Vidya Balan for Parineeta

In an interview with Mashable India, lyricist Swanand Kirkire spoke about the 2005 film Parineeti which marked the acting debut of Viday Balan and the directorial debut of Pradeep Sarakar. He recalled Sarkar shooting for the song Raat Humari Toh Chand Ki Saheli Hai with Vidya Balan on the sets of an ad. The filmmaker then showed the clips to Vidhu Vinod Chopra who was mighty impressed by the song’s shoot and setup. 

He recalled, “Vidhu Vinod Chopra was quite impressed with it, and he told Sarkar, ‘This is amazing. You will direct my film. Shantanu Moitra will be the music director, and Swanand Kirkire will be the lyricist.” However, Kirkire revealed that the producer was not in favour of casting Vidya for the role and demanded another actress. He remembered the producer saying, 
“But the girl will be somebody else.” 

Swanand Kirkire recalls how Pradeep Sarkar convinced Vidhu Vinod Chopra 

The lyricist continued that Pradeep Sarakar was adamant to cast Vidya Balan in the role. He recalled, “So, he (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) rejected Vidya in the first place.” However, Sarkar was adamant about casting Balan in the film. “Dada (Sarkar) did her several tests for Vidhu Vinod Chopra and finally cast her. Her journey was quite difficult and dynamic in comparison to ours. But she was so good.” 

Parineeta was a musical drama film based on a Bengali novel of the same name. The movie also starred Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Dia Mirza in pivotal roles. The movie received massive critical and commercial acclaim and the director, who passed away earlier this year, won the National Film Award for the feature film.