Vidya Balan with Saif Ali Khan at the Anandalok Awards

At six in the evening, Vidya Balan sounds exhausted on the phone. She has reason to be. For days, she has been shooting till late into the night for Raj Kumar Hirani?s Munnabhai Meets Mahatma Gandhi, and also making time to pick up a film award or two for best debutante and the like.

Life has been a roller-coaster ever since the south Indian girl invaded Bollywood with Parineeta, after having acted in a string of commercials, a TV serial (Hum Paanch) and a Bengali feature film (Bhalo Theko).

Her debut image last year of a sweet-natured docile Bengali girl with a long plait and in 60s-style churidaar has stuck on to her personality. But the next three films up her sleeve are likely to ring in a change. She has finished work on Vidhu Vinod Chopra?s Eklavya, will take a couple of months more to wrap up Raj Kumar Hirani?s Munnabhai Meets... and then start Nikhil Advani?s Salaam-e-Ishq. Blockbusters all, with big directors.

?It has been good so far and I am taking my time. I am in no hurry. People in the industry have been nice to me? But I don?t socialise much, even in my personal life. I don?t party at all. I like spending time with my friends,? says Vidya.

Shooting for Eklavya has also been more like home, with most of the cast and crew of Parineeta. ?Vidhu Vinod Chopra was never there on the sets of Parineeta; he was overseeing everything as the producer. As the director here, he never interfered with the actors unnecessarily. That is the advantage of being a producer and a director. He gave each of us a lot of freedom to explore, and he gives you the right kind of cues? My role isn?t too big, but it?s good, and I have wanted to work with him since I saw Parinda,? she adds. Her one regret: she has only two montage scenes with Amitabh Bachchan!

Though Munnabhai Meets Mahatma Gandhi is also from the Chopra camp, the film will find Vidya exploring her funny bone. ?It?s a completely different genre I am working on. When I watched Munnabhai MBBS, I never thought I would be part of it someday.?

Salaam-e-Ishq, when it happens a few months later, will be a different ball game with six pairs of stars ? including Salman Khan-Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham-Vidya, Anil Kapoor-Juhi Chawla and Akshaye Khanna-Ayesha Takia. And Vidya is most excited about her somewhat unusual pairing with John.

?I came to know of the cast much later. But I said yes immediately after Nikhil Advani had narrated the story to me. He was so charged up? I can?t say whether my character is decidedly different from the others I have played,? she says, refusing to divulge details.

?None of these three films is like Parineeta, which was all about this girl (Lolita). But what?s important is that my roles are not blink-and-miss, they are substantial. My image and the look of the characters are completely different. The image I have now is the byproduct of a character I played and what the director wanted to present. So that will change with the characters I will be playing,? she explains.

In between the Bollywood biggies, Vidya was approached by Kamal Haasan to play the lead in his Tamil film Dasavatharam, but she backed out due to date problems.

?Being a south Indian, I am always open to films down south. I have no problems with the language. Whichever, whatever language, if there?s a good script even in Manipuri, I will do it. Someday I want to work in an Iranian film because I just love their work? As an actor I am open to doing any kind of role.?

Before Iran, Bengal is beckoning her for a second time ? playing Jaba in Rituparno Ghosh?s Saheb Bibi Ghulam. ?I had met Rituda six months back and he said he wanted to work with me. But I didn?t get any feedback after that. I want to work with him too. I saw his Asukh and subsequently all his films?? says Vidya.