Indian movie actress Vidya Balan is an upcoming star of these days who was born in Palakkad to Tamil Iyer parents in Kerala. Vidya grew up in Mumbai and did her schooling in St. Anthony`s Girls High School and attended St. Xavier`s College in the same place. She graduated with a Degree in Sociology. Vidya is conversant in many languages including her native Tamil, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Bengali. Vidya first started her career by modeling in the Surf Excel ad in the year 1998. She was successful in the field and continuously acted in not less than 25 TV advertisements. Most of the ad films were directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She acted in three music videos with Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal, directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

While she was studying in college, she got some offers of films from south. Out of them there was a Malayalam film titled `Chakram` with Mohanlal and a Tamil film. However, `Chakram` was postponed mid-way and she was dropped from the Tamil film. Her next film was in Bengali. She acted in `Bhaalo Theko` and won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award for that. She also acted in two Hindi TV serials `Hanste Khelte` and Ektaa Kapoor`s `Hum Paanch`, which was a sitcom.

This beautiful actress made her Hindi film debut with Vidhu Vinod Chopra`s `Parineeta`, which was directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was selected for the lead role in this film. It was a big challenge for even a seasoned actor to capture the grace of the character, Lolita. But she made it look easy, drawing applause from all quarters and instantly won the hearts of millions of Bollywood fans. Her success in `Parineeta` followed by `Lage Raho Munna Bhai` opposite to Sanjay Dutt. The film became a phenomenal success and even went to the Oscars. `Guru` was her next release, directed by acclaimed director Mani Ratnam where she played a woman with a physical disability. The film was a great success too. Although she had only a small role, it was quite appreciated. Her recent releases `Salaam E Ishq: A Tribute To Love` and `Eklavya: The Royal Guard` also did well. Her recent releases are `Bhul Bulaiyan` with Akshay Kumar and Shiney Ahuja, `Heyy Babyy`, Halla Bol directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, `Suryamukhi` directed by acclaimed director Shaji N Karun, a film on famous painter Raja Ravi Varma. `Stella` an English comedy directed by Dilip Mehta, is also in the pipeline. The famous director Deepa Mehta is writing the screenplay for the film. The film also stars Hollywood actor Brendan Fraser, along with Madhavan.

She is associated with AmFar (Americans for AIDS Research) and Hale House, a home for children born with HIV and those affected by Drug Addiction. She also involves herself with the Harvard AIDS Institute, by Hosting Forums and participating in events throughout the year. No wonder that Vidya Balan is one of the most talked about names in Bollywood today.

Indian movie actress Vidya Balan is an award winning film star and in her short span of career she has been awarded in many heads. She is the winner of filmfare award as best female debut award for the film `Parineeta`. She has also won the filmfare `fair one` face of the year for the same film. She was also nominated as filmfare best actress award in 2006. She has won star screen awards as most promising newcomer in the film `Parineeta`. She was nominated for Zee cine awards as best female debut for the same film. She was the winner of IIFA Best Female Debut for `Parineeta` and was nominated for `Lage Raho Munnabhai` as well. She has also won some other awards and these include Anandalok Puraskar Awards as best actress for `Bhalo Theko` in 2003, Star`s `Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine` for `Parineeta` in 2006. In 2007 she won the `Anandalok Puraskar Awards` as best actress for `Bhool Bhulaiyaa`.