Exclusive: Vidya Balan to puff hookah, speak in husky voice for Begum Jaan

Vidya Balan, who will be seen as the madam of a brothel in her upcoming film Begum Jaan, will not only be seen puffing hookah throughout the film, but will also sport a husky voice for the first time in her career.

To get the voice right for her character, the actress reportedly went through a voice modulation test. “Vidya will be seen in a completely diffident avatar. She will be sounding extremely different in this film, which one has never heard before. To suit the character she was asked to modulate her voice,” said a source, and added, “Although her character in the film hails from Lucknow, she will have a few dialogues in Punjabi as well.”

This is also the first time that the actress will be seen puffing hookah on screen. Begum Jaan is a Hindi adaptation of a National Award-winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji’s Bengali film, Rajkahini. The bold film got an A certificate from the CBFC recently.