. After facing initial struggles and being labeled a "jinx" in the South Indian film industry, she made a successful Hindi film debut in Pioneering "Women-Centric" Cinema:
, Vidya’s impact on popular media exploded in the late 2000s. Her career is defined by several landmark roles: With films like The Dirty Picture
In 2011, The Dirty Picture released, and with it, the rules of the game changed forever. Based on the life of South Indian siren Silk Smitha, the film was a meta-commentary on the very industry Balan worked in.
This film was a biography of the late southern sex icon Silk Smitha. For her role as Reshma, Vidya underwent a remarkable physical transformation, embodying a voluptuous and raw character that was virtually unrecognizable from her previous demure roles. The film focused on the tragedy behind the mask of the entertainer, and her performance won her the National Film Award for Best Actress.