

| Vidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala. She is from the Iyer community. |
| Vidya's father, P. R. Balan, is the Vice President of ETC Channel whilst her mother is a homemaker. |
| Vidya Balan`s second cousin Priyamani, who is a Tamil actress has won the National Award Best actress for the movie 'Paruthiveeran'. |
| Vidya did her schooling from St Antony's and later on joined St Xavier's College from where she graduated in sociology. |
| When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled 'Chakram' with Mohanlal, one of Vidya's favorite actors. |
| Vidya, once stated in an interview that she is extremely spiritual and visits temples every Thursday. |
| Vidya had to go through 40 screen tests and 17 make-up shoots before she was finally chosen for the lead role in 'Parineeta'. |
| Vidya has a very traditional Indian look in contrast to most of today's Bollywood starlets. |




