I have a life beyond camera: Vidya Balan

Mumbai: She enjoys every bit of stardom that she has achieved but Vidya Balan says acting is still a “job” at the end of the day for her and she cannot let it dominate her personal life. The National Award-winning actor says she is a private person and does not want her popularity to disturb her or her family’s personal space.

In an interview with PTI, Vidya says, “I have seen great stardom. I enjoy the perks that come with stardom. But, finally at the end of the day acting is a job, which I try and do in the best way possible.

“I am a private person when it comes to people in my life. Siddharth (Roy Kapur, husband), he is not an actor. I will not talk about him the way I will talk about myself. I need to respect his right to privacy. Similarly, my family, they are not actors, they have not put themselves out in the public.”

The actor, who made her Bollywood debut with “Parineeta” in 2005 and post the success of the film signed back-to-back projects, says she decided to slow down as she realised it was important to have a life beyond movies.

“I like taking time. It has been nine years… First two years I was doing crazy amount of work, but 2008 onwards things started changing. I realised I must only do things that I am fully convinced about and more than that I want to live my life.

“I don’t want to live only for films. I have life beyond them. I don’t like stepping out much. I like to be in my space when I am not shooting. I don’t feel it is necessary also to make public appearances. I still don’t go out on Sunday… Living life off the camera is very important for me as I use those experiences to portray my characters.”

Vidya had a tough time in scoring her Bollywood breakthrough and the actor says the struggle still continues. She, however, feels the course of struggle has changed as it is more about dealing with the public nature of her successes and failures.

“Struggle is a part of life. Initially the struggle was, may be I will never be an actor or I will die a frustrated actor. But today the struggles are very public. “Anything I do goes public. Now I have this pressure. Now my hits and flops are public. But still the struggle now is far better than what it was initially. At least, I am living my dream. I have matured with the experience.”

Vidya will next be seen in Suresh Triveni’s “Tumhari Sulu”. Also featuring Manav Kaul and Neha Dhupia, the movie will hit the theatres on November 17.