B'wood's Sherni Vidya Balan on facing rejections in career: ‘I used to go to sleep crying’

Vidya Balan is regarded as a 'powerhouse of talent' among the current generation of actresses. The actress made her debut in the Hindi cinema industry in 2005 with the film Parineeta, and she hasn't looked back since.  She has created a niche for herself in the industry with her power-packed performances. However, things were not so rosy during her early days in the industry. Recently, she reflected on that period of her life when she was had to face numerous rejections, particularly in the South cinema industry.

In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Balan describes herself as hopelessly optimistic. She added that back in 2002-03 she went through a lot of rejection and used to cry herself to sleep. So much so, that she thought she would never be able to make it as an actor.

Vidya Balan also explained what prevented her from giving up on her dream of being an actress. According to the Bhool Bhulaiyaa actress, every next morning was enough to fill her with hope. She knew that if she made it to another sunrise then it represented another opportunity for her. Having always been optimistic, she discussed that what she went through never really made a difference for which she expresses gratitude to her parents.

Vidya made her acting debut in the film Sherni. Amit Masurkar directed the film, which was released on the OTT streaming platform Amazon Prime Videos. Vijay Raaz, Neeraj Kabi, Mukul Chadda, Brijendra Kala, Sharat Saxena, and Ila Arun also acted in the film. In the film, the actor played the role of Vidya Vincent, a female forest officer. The actress had previously disclosed how she prepared for the film.

According to a BollywoodLife report, the Humari Adhuri Kahaani actress revealed to the media that she had spoken with a couple of forest officers to learn more about their jobs- the schooling required to become a forest officer, the various postings, and the problems they presented. Because the nature of the job may be physically demanding and even dangerous at times, it has traditionally been a male-dominated field, but the female officers discussed how they work around the patriarchal mindset... all of which proved to be quite helpful for Balan.

Vidya's last film was Shakuntala Devi which was released on the OTT platform Amazon Prime Video. Her upcoming projects include R Balki's Mahila Mandali which would be a Bollywood drama. Balan would play the key role along with Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur. The film tells the story of female astronauts.