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Vidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala. She is from the Iyer community. She comes from a middleclass family from Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Vidya did her schooling from St Antony's School and later on joined St Xavier's College from where she graduated in sociology.

When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled Chakram with Mohanlal, one of Vidya’s favorite actors. However, the project was shelved mid-way and Vidya had to wait for few more years to make her movie debut.

She made her debut as a model in a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998. She has acted in scores of ad films, most of which were directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

A couple of months later, she featured in three music videos (again directed by Sarkar) for ‘Euphoria’, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas.

Vidya Balan started work as an actress in the Malayalam movie Chakram, paired against Mohanlal, however the film was abandoned mid-way through production. After making her debut in television advertising as a model for a Surf Excel advertisement in 1998, she proceeded to do over 25 TV ads, (mostly directed by Pradeep Sarkar), followed with a variety of acting stints in music videos (Euphoria, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas), Hindi TV soap operas (Hanste Khelte and Hum Paanch) and a Bengali movie, Bhaalo Theko, for which she won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award in Kolkata. Hanste Khelte and Ektaa Kapoor's hum paanch.

In the meantime, she acted in Bengali movie bhalo theko with actor Joy Sengupta. She even won the ‘best actress’ Anand Lok Puraskar in Kolkata for her performance in the movie.

It was in Mumbai, during a pop concert, when filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra approached her to play the female lead in his movie parineetha, to be directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

Vidya had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was finally chosen for the lead role in the film.

Vidya has a very traditional Indian look in contrast to most of today's Bollywood starlets. 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.Vidya first started out by modeling in the Surf Excel ad in the year 1998. Success of the ad saw her doing a lot of commercials. Her mentor Pradeep Sarkar directed most of them. She did some 25 TV advertisements. She did three music videos as well, with Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria and Shubha Mudgal, again directed by Pradeep Sarkar.

While she was studying in college, she got couple of film offers from south; a Malayalam film titled ‘Chakram’ with Mohanlal and a Tamil film. However, ‘Chakram’ was shelved mid-way and she was dropped from the Tamil film, citing the reason that she didn’t know acting! But the truth is that she refused to yield to producer’s demands. And ironically, in her next film, a Bengali movie ‘Bhaalo Theko’, she won the Best Actress Anand Lok Puraskar award! She also acted in two Hindi TV soap operas ‘Hanste Khelte’ and Ektaa Kapoor’s ‘Hum Paanch’.

Vidya Balan’s Bollywood debut was in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Parineeta’, again directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was chosen for the lead role in this film. It was a big challenge for even a seasoned actor to capture the grace and subtle nuances of the character, Lolita. But she made it look easy, drawing applause from all quarters. She didn’t had to look back after that.

‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, with Sanjay Dutt followed. The film became a phenomenal success and even went to the Oscars. ‘Guru’ was her next release, directed by acclaimed director Mani Ratnam. The film was a great success too. Although she had only a small role, it was appreciated. Her recent releases ‘Salaam E Ishq: A Tribute To Love’ and ‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard’ also did well.

Vidya has many promising films coming up. ‘Hey Baby’ with Akshay Kumar, ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ (remake of critically acclaimed Malayalam blockbuster, ‘Manichitrathazhu’), ‘Halla Bol’ directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, ‘Suryamukhi’ directed by acclaimed director Shaji N Karun, a film on famous painter Raja Ravi Varma. Then there is ‘Stella’ an English comedy directed by Dilip Mehta, Deepa Mehta’s brother, 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.