Vidya Balan on doing Jalsa: ‘It has shades of grey…didn’t have guts to do it’

Vidya Balan is all set to enthrall the audience with her upcoming power-packed drama, Suresh Triveni’s Jalsa. However, the actor confessed that when the movie was first offered to her, she had her doubts given its shades of “grey”.
At the film’s trailer launch in Mumbai on Wednesday, Vidya said, “It has shades of grey, which is why when Suresh narrated the script to me, I had loved it, but I told him that I can’t do it. I didn’t have the guts to do it. Then the pandemic happened and something changed in all of us in a deep way that we don’t even understand.”

Vidya Balan further shared that it is only after the pandemic that the actor greenlighted the project. She said, “Then one day when Suresh told me over a general chat that he has reworked the script, I said I’d like to hear it again. I knew I wanted to do it, but didn’t tell him. I just wanted to read and be sure. I read and I was like, ‘I am on’!”
This is her second project with Suresh Triveni. Her first outing with the ad-filmmaker was Tumhari Sulu (2017). She said, “I’ve had the good fortune to play beautiful characters throughout my career but this is the first time I got to delve into the grey. I was willing to embrace the grey in me, which is why I could do this. Who better to do it with than Suresh, whom I trust completely?”

It has been ten years since the actor did Kahaani, which released on March 9, 2012. Reminiscing the film, Vidya said, “I couldn’t believe it has been ten years already. I remember every day of the shoot. I am grateful for the film.”
Jalsa, also starring Shefali Shah, will release on Amazon Prime Video on March 18.