Vidya Balan recalls period of rejections in her career: ‘I used to go to sleep crying’

Actor Vidya Balan opened up about facing several rejections when she was starting out in the film industry and how she would cry herself to sleep. She said that it was her hopeless optimism that got her through the tough times.

Vidya Balan made her acting debut with the television show Hum Paanch in 1995. She tried her luck down south but the films did not materialise. She finally made her big-screen debut with the Bengali film Bhalo Theko in 2003 and her maiden Hindi film was Parineeta in 2005.

Speaking to Bollywood Bubble about how she survives lows, Vidya said, “I think I am hopelessly optimistic. Like, even when I was going through a lot of rejection down south, way back in 2002-03, I used to go to sleep crying. I used to feel like maybe I am never going to become an actor.”

“But the next morning, I would wake up feeling like… I think the sunrise was enough to give me hope. If I have made it to another sunrise, I knew that it meant I have another chance. So, I think it didn’t matter what I was going through. I always had that optimism and I have to say thank you to my parents for that,” she added.

Vidya was most recently seen in Amit Masurkar’s Sherni, which released last month on Amazon Prime Video. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, she said that she was drawn to the film because of its ‘unusual story’ and the fact that it is about the jungle.

“And of course, Vidya Vincent as a character is very different from any of the characters I have played so far. All the characters I have played have been very obviously strong. Vidya Vincent is strong but she doesn’t come across as aggressive. She is very withdrawn, so it’s a different personality, and I thought that was again a first,” she added.