“The day my relationship with my body stopped being uneasy, something fell into place”

You know the name Vidya Balan – but it is what she represents that make her one of the most intriguing actors of our time.

Vidya is a provocateur, not content to fit into any of Bollywood’s boxes, and as her radical filmography shows – The Dirty Picture, Ishiqiya; Kahaani, Parineeta, Begum Jaan – it is the movies that will shift to accommodate Vidya, not the other way around.

And in an utterly riveting conversation, Vidya showed us the woman behind the image – casual and candid on the surface; a spine of steel under. She spoke of her fraught relationship with her body; of marriage and retaining her individualism; of the movies that most influenced her mindscape, and of the complex landscape of sexuality and desire when you inhabit a body that doesn’t seem to fit contemporary mores.

It’s an essential conversation to understanding not just Vidya but the deep fractures we all carry within the private and public sides to our selves, so do make sure to watch the full session above.