‘Bollywood’s fourth Khan’: deconstructing the ‘hatke’ stardom of Vidya Balan in popular Hindi cinema

Abstract

This article, seeking to address a gap in the study of post-millennial female stars in popular Hindi cinema, examines the reasons behind the rising stardom of Vidya Balan, tagged as ‘the fourth Khan’ in the Bombay film industry. It represents an early intervention in understanding how a female star in a predominantly male-oriented industry has become a ‘gamechanger’ as a result of the conjuncture of favourable industrial and technological changes, and transforming spectatorial tastes and practices. These include radical changes in the sites of exhibition such as the multiplex; shifts in cinephilia driven by urban youth audiences; distinctive marketing and promotional strategies that have partially engendered Balan’s ‘hatke’/offbeat stardom; and the establishment of new production houses that have encouraged a new generation of young directors and scriptwriters to create substantive female characters endowed with narrative agency and a feminist sensibility. It also argues that Balan’s stardom is an intriguing anomaly when compared with her female contemporaries in terms of her performance style, consistent box-office success, and choice of unconventional roles that have narratively reduced the male hero to a formality.