Vidya Balan turns 37 today. Just before she zipped off to celebrate her big day at an undisclosed destination abroad with husband Siddharth Roy Kapoor, a cheerful Vidya spoke to t2 on her birthday plans and returning to Calcutta to shoot TE3N. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and creative-produced by her Kahaani director Sujoy Ghosh, it also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. 

But on the way to her vacation, Vidya had to be deplaned at Abu Dhabi airport after she complained of excruciating pain in the stomach. Diagnosed with kidney stones, she’s currently recuperating in a Mumbai hospital. 

t2 says ‘Get well soon Vidya’ … and yes, ‘Happy birthday, Sunshine Girl!’ 

Best wishes in advance for your birthday on January 1. What's your favourite childhood memory of your birthday?
School was always shut on my birthday, but the next day I would take chocolates for the class… it was a kind of tradition. These days, I believe, kids distribute expensive gifts, but during our days, it was just chocolates, maybe two per kid. I remember I would give my best friends some extra ones (laughs) and there was so much joy in that. On birthdays, we were allowed to wear coloured clothes instead of the uniform and the whole class would sing Happy Birthday for me… that felt so special.

Unlike many of your contemporaries, you have always been comfortable talking about your age…
Age is just a number. I have no problem with my age… I always say I have had a happy 36 years… I am turning 37 on the 1st…. I am a proud 37-year-old because I feel I have achieved all that I have wanted to in these 37 years and yet for the life ahead, I have a whooooole lot of things to do… I am looking forward to that. I just want to keep doing good work. From 2007-08, my career just took an upward trajectory and year after year, I keep getting offered more and more exciting films… some have worked, some haven’t turned out well, but they all have been experiences to cherish.

You say that age is just a number and yet we hear so much about the shelf life of an actress. You have bucked that trend so far, but has it got tougher with the times?
Honestly, I feel it’s getting easier now. Audiences are far more accepting of female actors after marriage and motherhood… look at Ash (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and Kajol… they are doing so well and both are mothers. Most of the actresses doing well today are either 30 or above 30. It’s such a refreshing change. 

Four years after Kahaani, you are back shooting TE3N in Calcutta. Does it feel like a kind of homecoming? 
Absolutely! (Laughs) Shooting TE3N in Calcutta gave me the kind of feeling you would have when you come back home after a long stay abroad (smiles). Everything seemed so familiar. Since Sujoy is such an integral part of the project, the crew on TE3N is almost the same as that we had on Kahaani. They all know me well so whenever I was on set, someone or the other would ask me: ‘Didi, ki khaben?’ (Laughs) When we shot Kahaani, none of us knew that we were making a film that would be remembered so much in posterity… so now that I am back shooting TE3N with them, it’s one big nostalgia trip. 

The best thing about this schedule has been that we shot in a lot of familiar places… Victoria Memorial where I shot my first film Parineeta. You remember that scene of us having phuchka in front of Victoria Memorial? And then Dalhousie was where I shot a lot of Kahaani… then there is the Maidan where I also shot some portions of No One Killed Jessica… I remember meeting you there (smiles)…. So, as I said, it’s just been such a nostalgic ride… if I could, I would settle in your city! (Laughs)

Have you discovered anything new about Calcutta while shooting TE3N?
I am someone who prides myself on the fact that I know Calcutta very well. This is a city I have discovered inch by inch, corner by corner and every time I come here, I discover things about Calcutta that amaze me. Like the other day, I was crossing a stretch in south Calcutta and I saw some people sitting under a flyover and playing chess! (Laughs) I have never seen anything like this before… I believe that they sit there and play for hours every day, completely oblivious to the speeding traffic that whizzes by just inches away from them. Seriously, Calcutta just has these little surprises at each corner. 

Also, we shot some really nice portions at St. Paul’s Cathedral and I was so amazed to see the kind of serenity that exists in that place even though it’s bang in the middle of the city. And then, of course, there was Writers’ Buildings… people normally don’t get permission to shoot there, but Sujoy and Ribhu managed to pull it off… it was wonderful being there…. And yes, Calcutta looks even more beautiful at 6am (smiles). 

Though it’s only a special appearance, what is it about TE3N that made you want to sign on?
It would definitely have to be the script and the way it was presented before me. Ribhu is a wonderful young talent and the way he has imagined this film is so powerful. The writing is very strong and the characters very well etched. It’s a thriller so much like Kahaani… it doesn’t have big action set-pieces or daredevil stunts… it’s more about how the human mind works and how even seemingly ordinary lives can just change one day and how people innocuous in appearance and attitude can become deadly minds… people even ready to kill. I have a special appearance in the film, but honestly, I wasn’t going to pass up a film like TE3N even if it was a two-minute role… it’s that good a script. And I get to play a cop! (Laughs the Vidya laugh) 

So much has been said and written about your fallout with Sujoy Ghosh after Kahaani. Is TE3N the first step in mending broken bridges?
(Laughs out loud) I don’t know about that, but with Sujoy and me, it was one big misunderstanding and miscommunication that the two of us didn’t sort out for two-and-a-half years. Yes, he offered me Durga Rani Singh, but I couldn’t do it then because I had serious health problems… I wasn’t doing any films during that period. But then, there was some sort of misunderstanding and things just didn’t sort out because we didn’t really happen to meet. Then one day, I saw him at a coffee shop in Khar (Mumbai) — my parents live in Khar — and I went up to him and said: ‘Remember me? I was in your film!’ And he turned around and said: ‘Are you the actor who played the pregnant woman in my film?’ (Laughs) And we both burst out laughing and just like that the ice was broken. We chatted like old friends over coffee for hours and then a few days later, he called me to say that he was producing a film and that the director wanted to meet me. So along came Ribhu with the script which I loved immediately… and here we are (smiles). 

You played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in Paa. How different was it sharing screen space with him in TE3N?
Thank god, no maternal feelings came to the fore! (Laughs the Vidya laugh again) But working with Mr Bachchan is such a magical experience… no matter what the film is and no matter how many times you have worked with him before. He is such a consummate professional and the kind of energy level he has is mindboggling. He will be shooting from dawn and then you will find him rehearsing his lines between shots without a break… when he’s back in the hotel, he’s constantly on social media talking to his fans right beyond midnight… he still has so much zest and enthusiasm for everything he does… that’s what makes him the Amitabh Bachchan. 

And then, of course, there was Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Everyone knows he’s a man of few words and though during Kahaani we didn’t speak much, we more than made up for it during TE3N… I have most of my scenes with him. 

Talking of social media, you’ve just joined Twitter… how has it been so far?
It’s been great, so far… and I am really surprised. You know, I stayed away from it for years and then one day I said: ‘Let’s do it… what’s the worst thing that will happen, anyway?’ And now I find that I enjoy it quite a bit. Of course, I am not very regular on Twitter… I only tweet about the things that I feel strongly about… and as long as I manage to keep my life on social media separate from my personal life, I find that I quite enjoy being on it. Of course, I am still learning the basics so any kind of help is welcome! (Laughs)

Priyanka Roy
What is your birthday wish for Vidya Balan? Tell t2@abp.in