Not Quite

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Ms. Balan is still in her Sabysachi sari phase and following the designer’s code to a T (read: wearing contrasting colors), but this time I wish she had just stuck to a black blouse instead of the green. That and a much neater hair do and we’d have a great look.

vidya-balan-icu-opening-sabyasachi

Vidya Balan at ICU Ward Opening of INLAKS Hospital

Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani

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111 Comments

  1. I actually think the contrast works very, very well, and slightly disheveled though the hairdo is, it gives her an adorably fresh and unstarry air. All in all, a thumbs up from moi. 🙂

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  2. pretty face but no glamour at all..
    but atleast the good thing is shes not pretending to be who she is not…and that much to me,is worth applauding..

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  3. Sari is strictly okay. Do i see tassles à la ManishM? tch tch.How difficult is to get a sari pressed?This woman is yawn inducing. P&P, can we have some fresh faces and spunk on this site?

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  4. ummm…i think she looks quite lovely here…messy hair et al. in fact that style of braiding is very bengali and looks fabulous on the women in bengal who can carry it off. and we all know Vodya has a thing for all things bengali. the hair is it’s what people call carefully careless. i think the black/green combo looks awesome and she looks very very pretty – and classy.

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      • Why, is there a rule that you should always try and look younger? Is everyone that insecure?

        I think she looks wonderful here. It’s so refreshing to see someone who dresses the way they like to dress and doesn’t bother about ever-changing fashions.

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        • ditto. why is it that anyone who wears a saree looks like a mom? sounds rather insecure to me. i love the saree.. and i appreciate the way she’s done her hair and simple makeup. thumbs up from me

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          • Agreed- 1000%..Vidya’s recent looks are among my favourite..from simple saris to Sabya’s more expensive creations…Messy hair, pallu and all…Its really refreshing…

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  5. I know her hair is a bit messy but I love how she looks in the third pic…..real girl next door. Also, wish she didn’t pile up the whole pallu onto her shoulder. Always feel that looks so unflattering.

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  6. She looks sweet and earthy! but not digging these really BIG borders. they seem to overwhelm her. i think if she wore this sari bengali style- wouldve looked much better. pretty girl

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    • I highly doubt it’s her real hair. I didn’t see hair this long during her PAA promotions. I don’t think it’ll grow this much in a month or so..

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  7. I honestly feel she’s insecure in western attire and I can’t fathom why she should be, half the ladies who do wouldn’t look as amazing as she can.

    A few bad experiences I can understand, but curbing it completely and refusing to experiment as if it’s a plague is unnecessary.

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    • she got severe flak for trying western to the point where she was called as Shahid’s aunt. I guess her confidence must have taken a beating. I saw an interview where she said she would rather wear what she feels comfortable in than try something new and have people make fun of her! 🙁

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      • Yups.. a little chubby i guess… but take no offence!! I like her and the dressing style she’s comfortable in…. Barring that Kismet Konnection… she looks amazing!!

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  8. Good Lord
    was the hair really intended to look that way???
    i understand ‘messy hair’ but THIS

    as for the sari – it’s nice no doubt but don’t really see the designer element

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    • I agree if the purpose of the whole look was to hark back to the good old days she could have done it with much cheaper stuff than a sabyasachi.

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      • agree!
        im so getting myself these sabya “looking” sarees when im in india next! love the look but the cost dosent justify what is readily available in any mother’s wardrobe!

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  9. Oh yeah! Return of the ‘choti’. and iam liking the ‘choti’ ;). Almost a vanishing hairdo among us young ones!!

    Love the saree and donot mind the blouse at all! Iam sure during day it must be working well with the saree.

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  10. She looks lovely. For some reason, the green and black make her look so lovely. However, wish she would try other combinations. Loving it on her.

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  11. Hmm kind of unique coz you don’t usually get to see actresses with a simple braid…:) Agree she would have fared better had she skipped that green blouse!! Otherwise I loved her saree!!

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  12. maybe the blouse isn’t all that great, almost grandma..ish..but I’ll give her credit for wearing a Saree and that long braid, which you’ll rarely see in these days of boring micro minis and flashy designer wear..she looks beautiful, i love the third picture..

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  13. Gosh! Vidya fails in both western and Indian wear. This s a hopeless case. The messy hair is just not working. I wonder what she was thinking when she decided to dress up like that!

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  14. Her hair messy hair style with choti seems to be inspired from her look in her new movie Ishkiyan ! She looks pretty and comfortable in her own world 🙂

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  15. OMG SHE LOOKS SO GOOD! She looks like a pure film star here even though she’s dressed “simply”. She looks like an olden film actress and we all know those are the best kinds 😛 lol

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    • I agree – when Hollywood actresses channel the divas of Hollywood history, they are lauded, and Vidya should be too, for being a mainstream actress and dressing in a refreshingly old-world way – not that I have a problem with the way the others in the new brigade dress; it’s just nice to see someone do it differently and comfortably. 🙂

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  16. Proper bhenji look – I don’t know why this woman is applauded for looking a whole decade older and not in a good way- soooo bored of her.

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    • a whole decade older? she’s about 30 and she looks it. i dont know why we’re chasing youth and expecting to see women in skimpy net sarees – its fine if their taste dictates that choice, but it certainly doesnt make them look any younger. no wonder people succumb to botox!

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  17. she has such a stunning face…why does she keep falling into patterns…first the boring anarkalis and now the sabya sarees… even if she is comfortable only in indian wear, there is so much to choose from…

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  18. Errr…..What I absolutely don’t understand is that why do people try to defend Vidya’s lack of fashion sense as “The girl next door look”? IMO, even the girls-next-door in India end up looking more fashionable than Vidya. And they don’t have Sabyasachis at their disposal. Where do I even start with this look- The saree with the big border, the long sleeved blouse, the messy hair in a long braid…. All she is missing is sweaty armpits and a ‘purse’ and she could be Sheila Aunty coming back from office after a long day’s work in the 90’s!

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      • Her dressing style(?)has always been the WTF kind. I usually don’t bother to comment if it’s Vidya Balan. There’s nothing new or even remotely interesting in the clothes she wears or the way she presents herself. Why HHC even posts her pics are a big mystery to me.

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      • I know guys…People are calling her ‘artsy’, ‘boho-chic’, ‘graceful’…To me, this look is just SHABBY…And I do like her acting but not her style quotient (if she has any).

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        • Vidya might not be “fashionable” as in wearing the latest trends, but she does have style. There is a difference. I don’t understand how one can look at this site, see all the women wearing the same outfits as each other and then look at this picture and say that Vidya doesn’t look interesting?

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          • Hey you just expressed myself… i was not getting the words…. Vidya Balan has that old world charm…. You may not like it at all, i agree… but at least, keep your eyes and hearts open… the western gowns are not the only thing that are fashionable (not that im against them; ash looks lovely in them 😉 )

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    • when are u ppl goin to grow up and act a lil mature and realize the fact the the aunty behenji comments simple reflest your mentality and i bounces back at you…grow up…and then giggling like lil gals over “aunty and behenji” terms..

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      • yes for better informed people who have some knowledge of history, this look is reminiscent of what is referred to as the golden era of Bollywood when Madhubala and Meenakumari sported such get ups. I can bet my money on the fact that if ever there is a poll for the most beautiful bollywood heroines these auntie jees would beat a lot of today’s brigade hands down. Poor vidya should have been born half a century earlier.

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      • @spongy….I don’t think it is anyone of us who needs to grow up here…I you read my comment, I said that she COULD be Sheila aunty….And even if I DID call her an aunty, that was because she dresses like one…And (again)…we are NOT giggling like lil’ girls- Saya is rolling on the floor laughing and dressydresser is laughing out loud- Like grown ups do if they have an opinion and find something funny ;). Love and peace.

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        • Lin your comments are pretty unimaginative.

          Why is it that a cookie cutter attitude is considered fashion? And being a behenji non-fashionable?

          Auntys who went to work were also fashionable btw. This look is in fact quite retro and channels a Jaya Bhaduri in the 70s vibe (a look to which Ms. Bhaduri should have stuck IMO and lets not forget that she was a kind of trend setter in her day). Its in fact a post independence, simpler look that is currently drowning under sequins, lycra and hair products designed to make hair look like steel. It is also presumably in keeping with her new movie. And far more creative than having some stylist advise you and ending up looking like a clone. I think after all that disastrous Bwood fashion she was trotted out in, Ms. Balan is doing what she likes best and good for her-fashion is about being yourself and not subscribing to some current notion of it. If she can bring back a simpler, hand spun aesthetic – and she has the quintessential Indianness to do it – more power to her.

          Presumably if Gaultier sends down models with a purse and dishevelled looks as a flashback to the past you will hail it as fashion.

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          • @ AM- Thanks for just calling me unimaginative- I was dreading people calling me a hater with the aunty comment, but unimaginative- I think I am OK with that. Your opinions are true and I would gladly subscribe to them, if this was a perfect world- with no uggs, harem pants or Manish Malhotras. However, in this current era (which is not the era of Jaya Bhaduri’s or Meena Kumari’s btw), I have a hard time calling Ms Balan fashionable, even in her own sense because she is a celluloid queen who herself has given in to the horrors of bollywood fashion (as you said)….And just like she is expected to do different kinds of roles as an actor to prove her prowess , she is expected not to be stuck in a style rut (and a bad one IMO) as she is right now.
            The aunties of yore who went to work were trendsetters definitely, but in terms of emancipation and not fashion!
            As far the Gaultier comment is concerned, I refuse to compare Ms Balan to the Parisian models (for good or for worse!)…On a personal note, the design aesthetic of mavericks like Gaultier and Galliano does NOT appeal to me. Cheers..

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          • lin you seem happy with the word unimaginative – a first there-but I do appreciate your points. IMO simply because a look belongs to the past does not mean that it cannot be worn in the present. Sure you may have an idea of what fashion constitutes of but that doesn’t mean it is the sole kind of fashion. For e.g. P&P sometimes highlight over the top TV stars (and more power to them-P&P i.e.) and while I may not share their aesthetic I can see where they are coming from. Ditto Vidya who is going her own way – a way that I would assume requires some courage in today’s Bollywood. Ditto aunties who wore printed georgette saris and purses. For me that is what is interesting, not everyone dressing according to my standards. Also actresses should not be expected to be style mavens you know and required to change their public persona, though some actresses build a career solely on it.

            On these boards sometimes opinions are narrow – people are all snark about behenjis or outraged with the scantily clothed instead of looking for whether the wearer does a particular aesthetic well. Hmm, think P&P should have who does behenji well? or poll looks as “Behenji ya Apsara” – though Savita Bhabhi has managed to combine both 🙂

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  19. the question should be whether or not she looks at ease and comfortable in her skin. And the answer is a resounding YES!! I wouldn’t dress like this because I would not feel like its me, but she obviously does feel at ease…

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  20. I think she looks great. A refreshing change from pallu falling/non existent/half covered, navel & clevage showing, “chamiya” looking bollywood actresses like Priyanka, Amisha and the likes. She looks graceful, dignifies and none of the modern day actresses can carry this look since they lack basic charm.Have we forgotten that this is how many Indian women still dress baring the urban cities like Delhi, Mumbai,Bangalore and Chennai. There is a whole nation of women out there who are not into Short skirts yet.

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    • Err…but HHC is not a blog about fashion/clothes on Sheila Aunty(thanks lin) These people are celebrities and the pics blogged here are usually from a premier, award ceremony or some such gala event in B town. From Sridevi to Nandita das to Lara, bollywood ladies wear their saris well. It’s all about the attitue and personality which she thoroughly lacks, sadly!

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      • you could take solace from the comment below that vidya balan IS beautiful…. itzz just that ppl are afraid to stand out… she has tried to be like other actors but she’s not like them… she has realised that, and the stunning actress that she is, im back to happy again….

        i guess if one could really see her persona and talent one wouldn’t pass these comments…

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    • I agree I think the point is that there isn’t another contemporary actress that can pull of this look as well as she did. She looks gorgeous, charming, beautiful, simple, stunning, and old in the gold kind of way (where every actress was beautiful and mysterious).

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  21. I think she looks beautiful, and I like the fact that she’s not trying to be someone she isn’t. I say kudos for keeping it real, top of the style ladder or not.

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  22. the sari lacks any kind of creativity. it might be sabya, but frankly, a bronze-ish border on a black sari? WOW, innovative ^o)
    and she looks like a politician.

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  23. I love the saree and blouse – the hair could have been better…some days ago Kareena was wearing a similar saree (covered by HHC) – the only difference was it was gaudy….I so hope that these top designers would work with those local artists and have make such beautiful pieces.

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  24. She looks absolutely gorgeous! The hair kinda just adds to the look somehow. She looks so effortlessly graceful here. But. The next time we see her, she’ll be negating ever\ything.

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  25. for the first time ever, I actually think she looks good! I like her saree and contrasting blouse too. Infact, her disheveled hairstyle looks quite cute. She looks very pretty in the last pic!

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  26. she is looking lovely.i dont understand why every1 is after her rubbishing abt her style.everybody does not hav 2 look sexy n sultry revealing cleavage and one of da breasts and naval while wearing saree,like most of da actresses do.ok most of dm carry it well.agreed.bt dis isnt how normal indian women dress.vidya likes 2 b simple.just let her be.

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