Vidya Balan has been making headlines for her stellar performance in the recently released Mission Mangal. But all the success has come to her after a long battle with the industry norms and societal pressures.In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, the actor opened up about her difficult journey to stardom. Vidya spoke about a casting couch situation as well as the numerous rejections she had to face in order to make her way to the top.Talking about how she was once rejected from a regional film for the way she looked, the actor said she was so traumatised with the experience that she didn’t dare look in the mirror for months.“I felt ugly, I felt like shit. And for months, I didn’t look in the mirror,” Vidya said.The actor also spoke about her brush with casting couch down south.“I was in Chennai and this director came to meet me. I said, ‘Let’s sit in the coffee shop, and he said, ‘No, let’s go to your room.’ He kept insisting and so I left the door open. He left within five minutes. That was the only instance,” the Mission Mangal actor confessed as she said that the filmmaker left the scene in a hurry after realising that Vidya would not compromise.Stating that it is important to keep things in perspective, Vidya said that she later realised the key to being at peace with oneself is to know one’s own worth.“I have to accept and love myself the way I am,” Vidya said, stating that this is how anyone moves on in life from bad circumstances.
