When Vidya Malavade Was Asked To Play Sidharth Malhotra's Mother

Vidya Malavade is still remembered for playing India’s Women Hockey Team’s captain Vidya Sharma in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De India. The actress is currently gearing up for the release of her upcoming movie Ruslaan, scheduled to be out on April 26. Vidya is leaving no stones unturned to promote Aayush Sharma’s film. In a recent interview with Bollywood Bubble, Vidya candidly spoke about her journey in the film industry and challenges she faced. Despite her talent and experience, Vidya recalled an incident where she was approached to play the role of Sidharth Malhotra’s mother, despite being only 12 years older than the Student of the Year star.

Recalling the time, Vidya shared, “I remember I got a call for, this is really weird, some casting people who were casting for Sidharth Malhotra’s mom in some, I am not gonna say where but yeah in something and they called me and I was just, ‘Really? Do you have no clue about what you must do?’ Some casting, she was probably a new girl or assistant, but I am like, ‘How? What is it? How is the brain working?’”

Over the years, Vidya Malavade has worked with top filmmakers, including Imtiaz Ali in a 2022 series Dr Arora. Surprisingly, the filmmaker had rejected the actress for looking too glamourous. In the same interview, she said, “He kept saying, ‘No she can’t do it. She’s too glamorous for this part.’ He wanted somebody to look like a housewife from the heartland of the country. He was like, ‘How will she carry it off? I don’t think she will’.”

Further, Vidya Malavade shared how she convinced the Chamkila director to cast her in a role. She recounted Mukesh Chabbra’s team, who was handling the casting, requested photos that matched the character Ali’s team wanted. Despite providing pictures, they weren’t satisfied. Vidya took quick action and decided to take a break from her shoot, borrowed a saree and blouse from her house help, applied kajal, styled her hair accordingly and transformed herself to look like the character they desired. She sent the improvised photos to Imtiaz and appealed to him not to judge her solely based on her appearance. Her hard work paid off when she received a confirmation call of her casting a few days later.

Other than Vidya and Aayush Sharma, Ruslaan also stars Sushrii Shreya Mishraa and Jagapathi Babu in key roles.