Vidya Balan on stereotypes, giggling fits and her ‘raunchiest’ role

Your character in Ishqiya exudes sexuality and relies on deceit. One hadn’t expected you to explore such a space.
I agree people had perceived me in a certain light but personally, I have not set any limitations for myself regarding the roles I take up. I am greedy as an actor and have been so in the past. I’ve experimented with roles and film-makers alike. Ishqiya simply pushes that limit. The aggressive sexuality that my character exudes is there in all of us. After all, my character Krishna is the typical Indian woman who fits into the shoes of a mother, daughter and sister during the day but behind the doors, she’s very sexual. Somehow we have come to associate ‘sexy’ with the clothes we wear but to me, it’s all about the eyes. So one can be clothed head to toe and still be sensuous.

How are the people around you reacting to this unexplored facet?
I had truly not bargained for the variety of reactions that I’ve got after the theatrical promo was released. One of my friends told me that earlier, he would have had to think twice before telling me I looked ‘hot’ because he perceived me to be a certain way. But now, he is comfortable doing so. On the other hand, a producer, whom I shall not name, actually came up to me and said that he didn’t know I was capable of being raunchy!

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