Vidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala, coming 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.

A couple of months later, she featured in three music videos for ‘Euphoria’, Shubha Mudgal and Pankaj Udhas.

Vidya also acted in Ashok Pandit’s TV serial Hanste Khelte and Ektaa Kapoor's Hum Paanch.

In the meantime, she acted in Bengali movie Bhaalo 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 Parineeta, and after Lage Raho Munnabhai ,Bhul Bhulaiya...she is one of the most budding superstars in bollywood.