Bobby apne sheher hi tho aayi hai

Passersby used to come and ask, ‘Who’s the star’? On discovering they would ask when Vidya Balan is going to be here and I would be standing right next to them in disguise.

Hum aapko photos dedenge, compulsory dedenge” (We will give an opportunity of photo op), were the opening words of actress Vidya Balan, addressing enthusiastic photo journalists, as she made her way to a packed press conference at a popular multiplex in the city on Friday evening. Accompanied by her co-star Ali Fazal, who shot to fame as Joy Lobo in Aamir Khan-starrer ‘3 Idiots’, she dropped by the city to promote her forthcoming release ‘Bobby Jasoos.’ Dressed in salwar kameez, in true Hyderabadi style, she spoke about going unrecognised while shooting for the film in the city, why she hasn’t done any South Indian movies and how Nagarjuna swept her off her feet.

‘Bobby Jasoos’, a production of Hyderabad’s very own Dia Mirza, has been shot in the city extensively. Sharing her experience of shooting in the city, Vidya said, “It feels like Bobby apne sheher hi tho aayi hai (Bobby is back to her city). The film is about a girl from Mughalpura of Old City. We’ve stayed in Hyderabad for 45 days and shot the film in lanes and by lanes of Old City. Every house of the Old City has a gulmohar tree; it was heartening to notice it. We’ve also explored places like Punjagutta, Sultan Bazaar and Kacheguda among other locations.”

Sadly, Vidya couldn’t get a taste of world famous Hyderabadi biryani. “I’m a vegetarian,” she said. “The cast and crew had a gala time feasting over biryani, haleem and sheer kurma among other delicacies.”

She also remembered going unnoticed while shooting at locations across the city. “Passersby used to come and ask, ‘Who’s the star’? On discovering they would ask when Vidya Balan is going to be here and I would be standing right next to them in disguise,” she chuckled.

The actress will be seen in as many as 12 disguises in the film owing to her role of a detective. She says before they landed in Hyderabad, everything was in place. “Costume designer Theia Tekchandaney and make-up artiste Vidyadhar Bhatter were up to the task.

Even after short listing 12 required looks, I was craving for more, but director Samar Shiakh said, ‘We got 12, that’s enough.’”

The team also had a tutor to get the Hyderabadi lingo right. “Abbas Malik saab trained us. We had a great time getting the diction. In Mumbai, we say, ‘tereko mereko’, but in Hyderabad, we say, ‘teruku, meruku’,” she said. On a lighter note, she exclaimed, “4th July ko ‘Bobby Jassos’ aapke piche aarahi hai… bachke rehna (Bobby Jasoos will follow you from July 4, be careful).”

When Vidya was quizzed on whether she has she ever spied on her producer husband Siddharth, she said, “I get to know whatever I need from him; so the question of spying on him never arises. In fact, he should spy on me. Maybe he can get a scoop unearthed,” she smirked.

On asking whether she would continue to do more women-centric films, she said, “I’m getting exciting roles in women-centric films and each time I’m getting to do something different from the earlier. When Samar Shaikh narrated me ‘Bobby Jasoos’ script, I knew he would make me do something different; moreover you don’t get a chance to play a detective very often.”

A Keralite, Vidya has refrained from doing South Indian films barring a cameo in Malayalam movie, ‘Urumi’. Quiz her on that, she replied, “I haven’t been offered any exciting scripts. If I come across a good script, I would love to do Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. As a matter of fact, I’ve been to ‘Meelo Evaru Koteeshwarudu’ sets on Friday morning. We’ve met Nagarjuna sir and had a great time.”

Which T-town hero, would she love to romance on screen? “Now that I’ve met Nag sir, I couldn’t get over how well maintained he is. I would love to do a film with him.”

While Vidya stole the limelight, Ali Fazal was not far behind, maintaining his composure and hitting the right notes when quizzed. On asked whether he was intimated to rub shoulders with an actress of Vidya’s calibre, he said, “She’s a sweetheart to collaborate with. We were terrified to groove for songs, a common factor that helped us to bond. However, Vidya, a poor dancer, interrupted, “When he said he is not good at dance, I was comfortable, but when I reached the sets on the day of a songs shoot, he was literally flying.”