Vidya Balan on designer Rick Roy: He has never asked me to lose weight

We are the rooftop T-Series office in Andheri, waiting to meet Vidya Balan. She has back-to-back interviews and we are told she is running late. When she finally arrives, in a hip-long blouse paired with a printed saree and flashes a smile with a warm hello, it becomes evident that those who know Balan, love her. "She doesn't care about her weight and that's the best part"; "Anything looks good when you have that sort of grace," we hear those gathered say.

Rick Roy and Vidya Balan. Pics/Nimesh Dave

For all the success and critical acclaim Balan, a Chembur girl minus a cinema legacy, has seen, she has had a rocky relationship with style. When you meet her you realise she is petite, and curvy. It has taken her a while to embrace her shape. The first time we met her, it was right after The Dirty Picture had released. She said that having played the south film industry's sex bomb, Silk Smitha, she had discovered new-found respect for her body. It was then that Balan decided she would no longer strive to fit in.

Balan hasn't changed her mind in the six years since. She is accompanied by designer and friend Rick Roy today. Roy styled her for her last film Begum Jaan, and handles her costumes for brand endorsements. "Rick knows my body, what flatters me, what doesn't, and I trust that," she says looking over to the red-haired Roy, who mock scowls, "I have to say that's a bad thing and makes my job harder. This means I have to be harder on her, and say, no, let's not go down this road. But the great thing about her is that if you tell her what you have chosen is working, she will trust you. No questions asked. Sometimes, that's scary. So, with her, you have to be sure. You can't use a kaam chalao outfit, because she will go right ahead and wear it!"

Rick Roy and Vidya Balan

For Balan, who has been at the receiving end of criticism for her weight, it's been a challenging road to acceptance. She says it's Roy's complete disregard for her shape that has worked. She recalls the first time someone suggested that he style her. "I said, 'I have seen him style all the fancy ladies in red carpet gowns. How will he get the character or understand my body?'" That opinion changed when Roy designed her look for Begum Jaan, the 2017 period drama where she played the head of a brothel that sits on the border of Sakkergarh and Dorangla.

"He is the only designer I have worked with who has not asked me to lose weight. Everyone else, though lovely and great at what they do, have said, 'you could do with losing a bit'. All Rick says is, 'you are looking gorgeous'. That's enough to make me feel beautiful and know that he will take care of me."
Roy blushes. He thinks Balan's confidence sees her carry off most outfits, and when she smiles, the deal is sealed. "It's also that stylists prefer it if actors fit into clothes that are ready, and off the ramp. I am not a stylist; I design, so I make clothes to fit the person, not the other way around."

For Tumhari Sulu, where Balan plays a gregarious homemaker who takes on the job of a late-night RJ, Roy decided he'd go street. "By that, I don't mean high street. I mean Lokhandwala 'street'. I could have given her a Zara bag to carry, but can Sulu afford Zara? So, I gave her a rip-off picked from a bag store in Lokhandwala."
The film also saw him customise sarees and to reflect the social fabric Sulu belongs to. "He has taken two sarees and stitched them together, and the same for dupattas, you'll see," she says.

As we head out, we suggest that she consider of starting her own fashion line, to inspire millions of girls who grapple with body image. Her eyes brighten up, and she looks at Roy. "That's an idea. Maybe a line of sarees? What do you think?"