Vidya Balan (born January 1, 1979) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. After appearing in the television sitcom Hum Paanch (1995) and the Bengali independent film Bhalo Theko (2003), she made her Hindi feature debut in the musical drama Parineeta (2005), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her subsequent releases included Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Guru (2007), and the psychological comedy thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).
Balan earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the comedy drama Paa (2009), followed by the black comedy Ishqiya (2010), for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. For her portrayal of Silk in the biographical drama The Dirty Picture (2011), she won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She earned a third Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the mystery thriller Kahaani (2012). Her credits during this period included No One Killed Jessica (2011), Kahaani 2 (2016), and Tumhari Sulu (2017), which earned her a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
In 2019, Balan expanded into South Indian cinema with the two-part biographical drama N.T.R: Kathanayakudu and N.T.R: Mahanayakudu, and appeared in the Tamil release Nerkonda Paarvai and Mission Mangal. Her subsequent projects included the biographical drama Shakuntala Devi (2020), Sherni (2021), Jalsa (2022), Neeyat (2023), Do Aur Do Pyaar (2024), and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (2024). In 2026, she appeared in the historical drama Raja Shivaji and The Last Tenant.
