Vidya Balan's Tamil Debut, Two Decades After the Jinx Tag

Vidya Balan has finally made a full-fledged Tamil film. In Nelson Dilipkumar's Jailer 2, which opened in theatres on Oct. 15, she plays Kantha Kalpak, one of the villains lined up against Rajinikanth's Tiger Muthuvel Pandian. In interviews around the release she has talked about an early reputation as a "jinx", a missed chance to work with Rajinikanth, a trembling cigarette on set and the Tamil film she is shooting now with R. Balki.

The jinx years

Speaking to SCREEN, The Indian Express's film vertical, Vidya recalled that a Malayalam film, Chakram, opposite Mohanlal, was shelved at the start of her career and that she was superstitiously blamed for it. The report says more than a dozen films dropped her before shooting began, and that the pattern extended to Tamil cinema, where she was replaced in films including R. Madhavan's Run (2002) and Srikanth's Manasellam (2003).

She told SCREEN that for a while she was not mentally open to working in any language other than Hindi. "But overtime, I've matured and realized that was just the time. It doesn't have to do with anything else," she said, adding that as actors, "we're hungry to do good roles."

Her only earlier Tamil screen time was a special appearance opposite Ajith in H. Vinoth's Nerkonda Paarvai (2019), the Tamil version of Pink. She told SCREEN that was "just one song and a couple of scenes", shot over five to six days, and that she has shot far more for Jailer 2.

Why she said yes

Vidya told SCREEN that Jailer 2 was not her first Rajinikanth offer. A few years ago, she said, her dates clashed with another film. "This time, when I was offered, I was like, 'I can't say no,'" she said. She called the first Jailer (2023) "exciting and entertaining through and through" and said the role "ticked all the boxes."

At the Jailer 2 promotional event reported by The Indian Express, she put it more simply: "It is both a Rajinikanth film and a Nelson film." She also described Kantha: "She is just fierce. Her family is the only thing that matters to her. She will go to great lengths for it."

Speaking to mid-day, she said she hoped the film was "the beginning of something here. And what better way to start than with a Rajinikanth film?"

Tamil dialogue and a shaking cigarette

At the same event, S. J. Suryah joked that Vidya would go silent and learn long Tamil dialogues "like a schoolgirl" before shots. Vidya said Nelson once handed her a page and a half of new lines just before a take in which she also had to smoke, and Nelson said he saw her hands shaking on the monitor.

She gave SCREEN the fuller version. It was the first time in 15 years, since The Dirty Picture (2011), that she had smoked on screen, and her body reacted to the nicotine. "More than anything, I was so embarrassed that it was happening in the first take, and that too in front of him," she said. She added that Rajinikanth was "very sweet" about it, and that before her next smoking scene she rehearsed it in a corner of the set.

Working with Rajinikanth

Vidya told Variety India that she expected "trumpets" when the star first arrived on set, and that he simply walked in. "There is so much to learn and appreciate and imbibe. There is no shosha," she said. She said he told her on the first or second day that he watched her social media reels and found them funny, which put her at ease. "He doesn't make you feel like he's watching you or he's judging you," she said.

At the promotional event, The Indian Express reported, Rajinikanth said of her: "Vidya ji is a pretty lady and a talented actor. She is so innocent. I honestly want to do a full-fledged film with her."

What the reviews say about Kantha

Critics have been less generous to the character than to the actor. News18's Titas Chowdhury, who gave the film 3 out of 5, wrote that Vidya "brings spunk and spark" to Kantha, but that the character feels underwritten, leaving her limited room to make a lasting impression. The review says Kantha's commanding aura recalls Ramya Krishnan's Neelambari in Padayappa, and that the villains' arcs feel almost impactless in the second half.

The Hindu's Bhuvanesh Chandar, who was largely positive about the film, wrote that Kantha "doesn't make much of an impression, though the character shows future promise."

A career in four languages, and what is next

Vidya's first Hindi film was Parineeta (2005), according to her Wikipedia biography, and she went on to Paa, Ishqiya, Kahaani and The Dirty Picture, which won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. She received the Padma Shri in 2014. Her highest-grossing release, per the same biography, is Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (2024).

SCREEN reports that Jailer 2 comes five months after she played Badi Beghum in Riteish Deshmukh's Marathi period film Raja Shivaji. "Forget anyone else, it bored me to play the good girl," she said. She told SCREEN her dream is to work in all Indian languages over time.

Next, according to SCREEN, Vidya is shooting a Tamil film directed by R. Balki, her solo lead debut in the language, which reunites them 17 years after Paa. She also has a Hindi film due this year with Akshay Kumar and director Anees Bazmee. Neither film's title or release date was given in the interview, and we have not seen them announced elsewhere.

She also said a long-discussed series in which she would play Indira Gandhi, to be directed by Ritesh Batra, has not happened yet. "I believe in divine timing," she told SCREEN.

Sources

Cover photo: Ministry of Rural Development, Wikimedia Commons, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Actress_and_Sanitation_Ambassador,_Ms._Vidya_Balan_briefing_on_Nirmal_Bharat_Yatra,_an_epic_journey_from_Wardha_(Maharashtra)_to_Bettiah_(Bihar)_to_create_awareness_about_sanitation,_in_New_Delhi_on_September_28,_2012.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Actress_and_Sanitation_Ambassador,_Ms._Vidya_Balan_briefing_on_Nirmal_Bharat_Yatra,_an_epic_journey_from_Wardha_(Maharashtra)_to_Bettiah_(Bihar)_to_create_awareness_about_sanitation,_in_New_Delhi_on_September_28,_2012.jpg) (GODL-India).