Vidya Balan got seven offers to play M.S. Subbulakshmi, but set one condition

Vidya Balan received seven film offers to play Carnatic legend M.S. Subbulakshmi after her 2024 photo tribute to the singer. She told each of them the same thing: she would consider the role only if the makers first got the permissions it needs.

In a recent interview, the actor went back to a biopic that never happened. Around 2012 or 2013, she was set to play Subbulakshmi in a film by director Rajiv Menon. A stay order stopped the project, and Vidya said she has been heartbroken since, because playing the singer was something she badly wanted.

The connection goes back to her childhood. Vidya recalled that her family woke up every morning to Subbulakshmi's Suprabhatam, so she grew up knowing a lot about the singer's life. She also praised the script Menon had written.

The photo shoot came out of that loss. Costume designer Anu Parthasarathy, who worked with Vidya on Guru and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, suggested it as another way to honour the singer. The pandemic and other work delayed it, but it was finally released in 2024. With no clearance to make the film, Vidya said the shoot gave her a way to show her admiration.

Without those permissions, she made it clear, she will not take up the film.

Rashmika Mandanna has now been announced as Subbulakshmi in an upcoming biopic. Vidya, recently seen in Rajinikanth's Jailer 2, also named Meena Kumari and Indira Gandhi as two women she has long wanted to play. A series on Indira Gandhi that she was expected to do with filmmaker Ritesh Batra also never took off.