I shall speak to English: Vidya Balan

She's always maintained in the past that her dream man had to be someone like Bollywood's legendary poet, filmmaker Gulzar. But the extent to which she puts him on the pedestal was made evident at the release of a music album on Wednesday. The otherwise articulate Vidya Balan fumbled her way through it in the presence of the poet-writer and filmmaker. In fact not even the rapier wit of her other favourite, actor Shah Rukh Khan has been able to unnerve her before.

Vidya was present as a guest to release a music album dedicated to the legendary poet Mirza Ghalib. She had celebrated lyricist Gulzar and theatre personality, Salim Arif for company. When the actress was called on stage to speak a few lines, she seemed visibly nervous. So much so that she began fumbling when she began to speak. She made it clear that she since she was not fluent in Urdu like the stalwarts around her she would stick to English. "I shall speak to English," she ended up fumbling again.

Says a source who was present at the event, "Vidya was palpably uncomfortable when she was called on stage after Gulzar. She said 'I wouldn't dare talk in Urdu or Hindi in front of the legend Gulzarsaab who Vishal Bharadwaj had eloquently described as safed Sufi'. She then added 'I shall therefore speak to English'!" The audience did not miss the blooper. "However, it was rather endearing to see the actress so jittery... Her voice quivered as she started, but she managed to gather herself instantly and make a persuasive speech," says the source.

Source: Shreya Badola, DNA-Daily News & Analysis

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