"I thought the kids would hate me" - Vidya Balan

At the moment, Vidya Balan has only one assignment, Aziz Mirza's Kismat Connection. "And it's very different from every thing I've done so far. That's how I like it. I don't want to get repetitive so early in my career."

She played Ajay Devgan's supportive wife in the recently-released Halla Bol and feels proud of the work, no matter what its box-office outcome. "Whether it's the amnesiac wife in Salaam-e-Ishq, the schizophrenic wife in Bhool Bhulaiyaa or the fiercely supportive wife of a philandering star in Halla Bol, I'm equally proud and possessive of all my films, no matter how they perform at the box-office."

Vidya Balan who started her career with a Bengali film, is returning to her roots. "I feel I was Bengali in my last life. In fact, when Ritu-da offered me a Hindi film I shocked him by requesting him to do a Bengali film with me."

Though Vidya's Rahgeer (a take on Vijay Anand's Guide) with Rituparno Ghosh opposite Akshay Kumar didn't work out, Vidya and Akshay have become a hit jodi. "Inshan Allah, if all goes well, Akshay and I will sign another film together this year. But my big kick in 2008 is the Bengali film. And it's with Gautam Haldar, the same director with whom I did my career's very first film Bhalo Theko in Bengali. I really wanted to do another Bengali film because that's where my acting career started. Even my first Hindi film Parineeta was very Bengali in ambience."

Vidya is excited about the return to her a cinema she loves dearly. "I play a character called Hashi. And Tanujaji is also in the film with me. I'm aware she has done loads of Bengali films in the past. And she's one of the actresses I truly admire. So I'm really excited about the film."

"My first release before even Parineeta was a Bengali film. It's like coming home for me. Kolkata is home for me. I sincerely wanted to do it. This is my way of saying thank you to the film industry. It welcomes me at a time when I had no place in the Hindi film industry. I've always been fascinated by the land of Ray. It was a dream to have done a role in a Bengali as my very first film." Even her character in Bhool Bhulaiyaa was eminently Bengali. "Yes and I worked so hard on the character…Awards nominations? I'd love to get the awards. I thought the kids would hate me after that frightening role. It did scare them. And I'm glad as I was meant to do that. Fortunately, they recall me by the breezy radio-jockey's character in Lage Raho Munnabhai."

Why isn't she in any of the big banners in Bollywood? "I crave to work with all of them. And I'm sure it'll happen at the right time. Sometimes you strive hard for something and it doesn't happen. Like I wanted to do another Bengali film. While I was trying it didn't happen. When I stopped trying it happened."

The one wish she'd like granted this year? "You mean apart from doing another Bengali film? I'd like to be loved all the time. And can I get one more wish? I wish all my films would do well. In my recent lot Salaam-e-Ishq and Halla Bol didn't. But I really loved working in both. And I'm proud of them."