Vidya Balan Recalls Being Called 'Panauti' After Malayalam Film Was Shelved: 'Thought Mera Sapna Kabhi Poora Nahi Hoga'

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan, who reprised her iconic role as Manjulika in the horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 alongside Kartik Aaryan, recently opened up about facing rejections during her initial years in the film industry. The 45-year-old actress also recalled how she was labelled as 'panauti' after her Malayalam film was shelved.

Speaking to Instant Bollywood, Vidya revealed that her initial years of rejection were 'very tough' because she had not yet received her big break. She said, "I started shooting for a Malayalam film, which had stopped in the middle and then they said, 'Nahi, nahi, yeh ladki Panauti hai. Jab se woh iss film se judd gayi hai, problems shuru ho gaye hai and ab yeh film band padd gayi hai.'"

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Furthermore, Balan added after she was called 'panauti' she was removed from many films, which affected her. "You begin to believe that ki 'Acha, mein kahi panauti toh nahi hu?' Insecurities aa jate hai and yeh lagta hai ki mera sapna kabhi poora nahi hoga. I think that was probably the toughest phase for me," said the actress.

Meanwhile, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 also stars Triptii Dimri, Madhuri Dixit, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, and Ashwini Kalsekar, among others.

The horror-comedy serves as the third installment after Akshay Kumar's Bhool Bhulaiyaa released in 2007 and Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, which was released in 2022.

On the work front, Vidya was previously seen in Do Aur Do Pyaar, starring Pratik Gandhi in the lead alongside Ileana D'Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy.