Vidya Balan Auditioned For Her Debut Film Parineeta 75 Times, Reveals Composer Shantanu Moitra

The gorgeous and exceptionally talented Vidya Balan has won the audiences’ hearts many times with her spectacular performance in various super hit films. She’s one of the most natural actors and her screen presence is absolutely magical! Whether it was RJ Jhanvi of Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Sabrina Lal from No One Killed Jessica or Reshma aka Silk of The Dirty Picture, Vidya left fans in awe each time she shined on the big screen. However, she was not always the confident, strong woman that she is today. In fact, composer Shantanu Moitra has revealed that he had seen Vidya in a very vulnerable state before her debut film Parineeta.

Talking to IANS, Shantanu recalled his fondest memory of the musical romantic drama, also featuring Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt. He met an incredible girl at Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s office and they slowly became friends. He recalled, “I asked her what she was doing and she said she was here for audition. I'm talking about Vidya Balan. This story is for those people who think that enough is enough, let's give up. The girl auditioned about 75 times and got rejected every single time. Can you imagine her self-worth? Then Pradeep would tell Vinod to try a new look because the previous one wasn't working. At that time, many top actresses were giving the same auditions as well and calling him for a role. Think about the pressure on that girl!”

After being rejected for the 75^th time, Vidya was going for a Bryan Adams concert in Mumbai when director Pradeep Sarkar said let’s do one last audition. She quickly went to the location, gave her audition and left, thinking that she will be rejected again. However, the makers finally decided that she was the perfect fit for the role and tried calling her. “Pradeep was calling Vidya but she was thinking about switching off the phone, thinking that the call was about a rejection. Someone texted her - 'Dude it's over, you are 'Parineeta'. I think she got the message and she walked outside, crying. She just kneeled and was sobbing because she had got the role.”

We are glad she never gave up and went on to wow us with such amazing performances. There’s so much we can learn from Vidya Balan’s extraordinary journey in Bollywood. Well, the actress will next be seen in Anu Menon’s Shakuntala Devi, based on the life of the Indian writer and mental calculator, popularly known as the ‘human computer’.