Known for her impressive screen presence and unabashed authenticity, actress Vidya Balan recently opened up about watching Umrao Jaan with veteran actress Rekha and called it a “surreal experience”. Vidya also praised Rekha’s performance in the film and said, “She was made for celluloid.”
In an interview with THR India, the actress said, “I wanted to revisit some of the films I watched as an actress to see how they have aged and what my opinion of them would be now. Last night I watched Umrao Jaan with Rekha, who was holding my hand, and in some scenes of the film, I just kept looking at her in awe and thinking, ‘Really?’ It was a surreal experience, because on the other side of me was Shabana Azmi, whose mother Shaukat Kaifi is also in the film.”
Vidya Balan praised Rekha and her performance in Umrao Jaan, saying, “There are so many talented people in that film like Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Sheikh and Dina Pathak, but you can’t take your eyes off Rekha ji. I think she was made for celluloid; if there was one person like that, it would be Rekha. There are no words to describe her, because she is above any words. I think she is the embodiment of desire; that’s what she exudes in every frame.”
Vidya further added that the reason for watching old movies was that she was tired of watching series with too much violence, and she just wanted to watch something that would make her believe that there is still goodness in the world.
Vidya Balan was last seen in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 alongside Kartik Aaryan, Madhuri Dixit and Tripti Dimri. She will next be seen in Riteish Deshmukh’s untitled film based on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
