Vidya Balan signs on for biopic in Malayalam after her Marathi debut

Vidya Balan has been quite busy. Even as her film Te3n earns rave reviews, the actress has been signing some interesting projects. A national daily reported that Vidya has signed on for a Malayalam biopic on litterateur Kamala Das.

Vidya has reportedly signed on to play the radical English poet and Malayalam short-story writer in her next film, which will be in Malayalam. This is the second biopic signed on by Vidya this year. The first is the Marathi biopic on yesteryear comedian Bhagwan Palav aka Bhagwan Dada, which will see Vidya play the role of Geeta Bali.

Speaking to the daily, Vidya said, "There have been a lot of great stories narrated to me in terms of the biopics that I have been offered over the years. Some I liked, but they could not happen, some I did not like. With the Kamala Das biopic, everything fell in the right place at the right time. She is strong, level-headed and a feminist. Plus, she is a poet. So, it was a yes from the word go." 

Although initial rumours suggested that the film might be made in two languages, Vidya denied this. "It is not a bilingual film," she said. "It will be a Malayalam film. We start shooting once I finish Begum Jaan which rolls from June 18." 

This will come as a disappointment to her Hindi fans who might have to make do with a subtitled version of the film, which promises to be controversial, given the subject. This will be Vidya's second film in Malayalam after Santosh Sivan's Urumi (2011). 

Kamala Das aka Madhavikutty aka Kamala Surayya was a free-thinking litterateur who wrote poems in English and short stories and an explicit, no-holds-barred autobiography in Malayalam.