MUMBAI: Accolades are still pouring in for her ma act in Paa and Vidya Balan still hasn’t got over it. “I’m basking in it,” says Vidya, adding, “It’s always nice when your work is being spoken about, especially considering that I was sceptical about the role initially, but later took it up with conviction.” Vidya’s now all set to lure two men —Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi — in her next film, Ishqiya, a far cry from her role in Paa. And one thing that everybody is talking about is her character Krishna, which is said to have negative undertones. “Krishna is not negative. It’s very easy to label a role — if someone plays a mother, she’s glorified; if it’s vaguely sexual, she gets portrayed badly. Krishna is like you and me,” she explains. Ishqiya is about love and lust. “Love keeps us going in our lives and sex is a part of it. Lust involves a range of emotions, which are part of love,” she points out. It’s also been reported that Arshad was a little hesitant about doing a kissing scene with Vidya in the film. So much so that director Abhishek Chaubey apparently left the actors alone and set the camera rolling to make them comfortable. Is that true? “It’s all rubbish. It was awkward initially. Arshad was nervous and so was I. As we get along very well, I don’t think Arshad had any problem ultimately,” she clarifies.

While Vidya loves crossing borders with her roles, she’s back to her old ways, with sarees finding favour with her during public appearances. “Yes, I’m back to doing what I like. Moreover, Indian woman are built in such a way that they look sexy as well as sensuous in a saree,” she says.

On the career front as well, it seems she’s finding work of her choice. Her next film is No One Killed Jessica with Rajkumar Gupta, for which she’ll soon start shooting. Then, she has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Chenab Gandhi and a project by Gulzar, who’s getting back to direction after Hu Tu Tu. “I hope this run continues and I get to do good films,” she says.

But Vidya’s wish to do a Malayalam film isn’t yet fulfilled. “I almost signed a Malayalam film. But since I didn’t have the required dates, I couldn’t take up the project. I’d certainly want to do a film in Malayalam as that’s my parents’ desire, which I want to fulfill,” she wraps up.