"Things Are Moving On A Bit Slow But I Am Not In A Hurry", Says Vidya Balan On Her Indira Gandhi Web Series

Vidya Balan’s latest film Mission Mangal had a good start at the box-office, and her debut web series, based on India’s first and only woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has found a director yesterday. The series will be helmed by Ritesh Batra, director of The Lunch Box that stars Irrfan, Nimrat Kaur, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Talking to an entertainment portal she said, “It’s been around two years since I bought the rights to a book on Indira Gandhi, as I wanted to turn the story into a web series. But at that time, I didn’t realize a web series is a completely different format and involves a lot of work. It’s also taking a little longer as the format itself is quite elaborate. That’s why writing is also taking time”.

Ask Vidya when the series is likely to start, she says: “I don’t know exactly when, but hopefully, in a year or two. Also, there’s so much material when it comes to someone like Indiraji, and we are going through a lot of it. Things are moving a bit slow. However, I am not in any hurry. Main kahaan jaa rahi hoon (smiles).”

The National Award-winning actress says she has nothing to “prove to anyone or myself. But one thing’s for sure: I am happiest on a film set, so I want to protect that feeling”.

“It’s only in 2006 that I was a part of five films. But they were smaller roles, which required me for just 15 - 20 days on a particular film. But now, the kind of films I am doing requires a lot of prep followed by shooting, dubbing, and promotions. All of it takes about five months. So, you anyway can’t do more than two films in a year. Kabhi Kabhi, depending on what [script] I like, I may even do one film a year. Woh Bhi theek hai,” adds Vidya.

Vidya’s latest outing Mission Mangal right before its release, her co-star Sonakshi Sinha said that Akshay Kumar’s face was bigger on the film’s posters because of "jo bikta hai, Woh dikhta hai". Does she agree with Sonakshi?

“Yes, and in fact, I would want to take advantage of his stardom (laughs). Funda bahut simple hai. We are in the business of cinema. And if having his face prominently on the posters is going to bring in more audiences to watch the film, I will have that any day. Once people come into the theatre, they will see the film for what it is, and the fact that every one of us has prominent roles in it,” she concludes.