Vidya Balan Hot Stills

Born: January 1, 1978, Ottapalam

Height: 1.63 m

Spouse: Siddharth Roy Kapur (m. 2012)

Siblings: Priya Balan

Vidya Balan  is an Indian film actress who appears in Hindi and Bengali language films. At age sixteen, Vidya landed her first acting role in the sitcom Hum Paanch (1995). After making several unsuccessful attempts to start a career in film, she acted in television commercials and music videos. In 2003 she made her feature film debut with the independent Bengali drama Bhalo Theko.

Vidya and Siddharth Roy Kapur at their wedding ceremony, December 2012

The mass media has often speculated about a romantic relationship between Vidya and her co-actors, but she has strongly denied these reports. In 2009, Vidya was involved in a controversy when she mentioned a previous relationship in which "caustic remarks" were made at her due to her weight. She said, "If someone who matters to you takes you down, it can break you. That someone whose approval mattered to me started to constantly find faults with me. At that point of time, it was important to walk away from that relationship."Though she refused to name the person, tabloid reports suggested that she was referring to Shahid Kapoor (her co-star in Kismat Konnection). Kapoor, however, denied the allegations. During an interview in May 2012, Vidya announced that she was dating Siddharth Roy Kapur, the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures. On 14 December 2012, the couple were married in a private ceremony in Bandra, Mumbai.

Vidya is trained in carnatic music and briefly studied the dance forms of Bharatnatyam and Kathak. Regarding her religious affiliations, Vidya said, "I am a person with a lot of faith and I have conversations [with God] all the time but I am not so religious in the conventional, organised sense".She practices vegetarianism and was listed as "India's hottest vegetarian" in polls conducted by PETA in 2011 and 2012. Her weight fluctuations over the years have been the subject of substantial media coverage in India.

Besides acting in film, Vidya is a social activist. In March 2011,she endorsed World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour campaign in India. She campaigned for the cause of nutrition in India for CINI (Child in Need Institute), a non-profit organisation based in Kolkata. In September 2012, Vidya visited a village in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, where she participated in a campaign to promote children's education and the empowerment of women. For her attempts to empower women, Vidya was awarded The Prabha Khaitan Puraskar 2012 by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce; she was the youngest recipient of the award. Vidya has also been appointed by the Government of India as their brand ambassador in the drive to improve the country's sanitary condition.