Vidya Balan recently appeared on THR Talks hosted by Anupama Chopra, where she revisited some memorable and not-so-pleasant moments from her acting journey. In a frank and light-hearted tone, the actor recalled an intimate scene gone wrong due to her co-star’s poor hygiene.
Without naming the actor, she said, “I’ve had an actor who had Chinese and (winces) didn’t brush and then I had an intimate scene with him and I was like… please! Do you not have a partner?”
Her comments sparked laughter, but also highlighted the awkwardness actors often navigate while filming sensitive scenes.
Reflecting on her very first such experience, Vidya brought up her Bollywood debut Parineeta (2005), where she starred opposite Sanjay Dutt. “He (Sanjay) came to me in the morning and he’s saying ‘Vidya, I am really nervous, I don’t know how we’re going to do this’. And I’m looking at him thinking, this is Sanjay Dutt,” she laughed.
She added, “And then, he’s so seasoned, he’s telling me this… seasoned in every way (laughs), I couldn’t resist that.” What stood out most to her, though, was Sanjay’s effort to ease her nerves. “It was his generosity… he made sure I felt like he too was nervous, and that took the load off me.”
Later, Sanjay even checked on her post-shoot. “He came, knocked on my door and said, ‘are you okay?’. I said, ‘yeah, absolutely’. He kissed me on my forehead and left. And that’s why Sanjay Dutt is Sanjay Dutt,” she fondly recalled. “And he also smells lovely,” she added with a smile.