Vidya Balan interview: On ‘Neeyat’ and why Bollywood should use this period of flux to reinvent itself

Vidya Balan talks about playing a detective in her first theatrical release since 2019, why ‘less is more’ is her current state of mind, and wanting to do a full-fledged comedy film next

Vidya Balan’s Neeyat is her first theatrical release since Mission Mangal in 2019. A box-office queen in the prime of her career, her recent forays into the world of streaming have been successful as well, with the likes of Sherni and Jalsa garnering rave responses from critics and audiences alike.

“I missed the theatrical experience,” says the actor, firmly stating that Neeyat is apt for the big screen. In the Anu Menon directorial, she plays detective Mira Rao who investigates a murder tthat takes place at exiled billionaire Ashish Kapoor’s getaway.

Excerpts from an interview:

She is not your classic detective; that’s what endeared her to me. Generally, detectives have a particular style and individuality to them. Mira Rao is sharp but shy. She is also supremely geeky, and she enjoys decoding stuff, including human behaviour. She is constantly observing and absorbing, but you don’t realise that. It’s almost like a placid river under which there are lots of rumblings.

Not at all. I think it’s great that it’s compared to Knives Out just based on a trailer. But if you pick up any five films from the genre, they will all have certain similarities. There are tropes that a genre uses. For instance, I always ask myself why does every murder mystery happen in a secluded location, either in a palace or a castle? Knives Out came out recently, so people might think Neeyat is a nod to that film. I am confident that Anu Menon has written an original story, and yes, she has used popular tropes of the genre.

I don’t quite understand how the number game works. On OTT, I am guessing the result depends on the measure of people who watch it as soon as it drops or by the number of responses you get. That said, on streaming, the messages come to you in the most staggered fashion, over a long time and sometimes unexpectedly, because you can watch it whenever you want.

I wouldn’t like to see Gangubhai Kathiawadi as just a female-led film that worked well at the box-office. Because it’s not like male-led films worked any better last year! Very few Hindi films succeeded theatrically in 2022. Gangubhai Kathiawadi is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film; it has scale, and you’d love to watch it on the big screen. In his films, everything is larger-than-life and people like to go to such movies. At the same time, people are interested in a movie with a solid story. So, both the grandeur and the plot must appeal to the audience.