Vidya Balan (born January 1, 1979) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. After appearing in the television sitcom *Hum Paanch* (1995) and the Bengali independent film *Bhalo Theko* (2003), she made her Hindi feature debut in the musical drama *Parineeta* (2005), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her subsequent releases included *Lage Raho Munna Bhai* (2006), *Guru* (2007), and the psychological comedy thriller *Bhool Bhulaiyaa* (2007).
Balan earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the comedy drama *Paa* (2009), followed by the black comedy *Ishqiya* (2010), for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. For her portrayal of Silk in the biographical drama *The Dirty Picture* (2011), she won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She earned a third Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the mystery thriller *Kahaani* (2012). Her credits during this period included *No One Killed Jessica* (2011), *Kahaani 2* (2016), and *Tumhari Sulu* (2017), which earned her a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
In 2019, Balan expanded into South Indian cinema with the two-part biographical drama *N.T.R: Kathanayakudu* and *N.T.R: Mahanayakudu*, and appeared in the Tamil release *Nerkonda Paarvai* and *Mission Mangal*. Her subsequent projects included the biographical drama *Shakuntala Devi* (2020), *Sherni* (2021), *Jalsa* (2022), *Neeyat* (2023), *Do Aur Do Pyaar* (2024), and *Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3* (2024). In 2026, she appeared in the historical drama *Raja Shivaji* and *The Last Tenant*.
