Vidya Balan was forbidden from naming Sajid Khan, Manish Malhotra when her costumes were ridiculed: ‘It was bullying’

Vidya said that since she has been around for almost two decades, and now knows what transpired in those days, she is quite grateful for her experiences. “You get to know that how the rumours were spread, and what happened,” she said, and added, “If not for that phase, I wouldn’t have come into my own. I wouldn’t have said f**k you but I am here to stay and no one can take that away from me.”

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Vidya then recalled how, during a “fun segment” at an awards show, she was given the ‘Na-Real award’ for her costumes in Heyy Babby. Vidya said that when she was told about it, she asked “Why me? My clothes are not just my choice and at that point more than ever, I was too new to have an opinion on anything.” The Dirty Picture actor said that she was a sport about it anyway, and said that she would accept the award but she will go up on the stage and share it with the director and the costume designer. “I was actually told, ‘No, you must not do that’. And that I think is not nice,” she recalled. Manish Malhotra did Vidya’s costumes for the film.

Vidya said that she mentioned the director and the costume designer’s name anyway, and this “got (her) into trouble.” “Later, there were reactions within the fraternity or whatever, their supporters, their friends,” she said, and recalled how she felt “shattered” that night. “That night… I have to tell you, I was shattered. I was shattered because I just felt very alone. I had realised that, yes, it makes a difference when you don’t come from a film family because no one outside you is looking out for you,” she said. When asked if this felt like “bullying”, she said “undoubtedly, it was.”

Reflecting on how she was pitched the idea of the “fun segment,” she said, “I thought it was a joke, so it was okay, but then when I realised that I was the only one who was being made fun of, I thought that was no longer funny.” Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan, who were the hosts that night, presented Vidya with this award.