Vidya Balan shared this picture. (courtesy: balanvidya)

Actress Vidya Balan has always challenged societal and Bollywood norms with her films as well as her personal choices. From speaking about her body image issues to embracing the saree amid a sea of fashion gowns, the actress has always been a clutter-breaker. Now in a moving Instagram post, Vidya has shared how a chance encounter with a young fan made her reassess how she views her body.  Sharing two mirror selfies that feature both her face profiles, Vidya writes, “A few days ago, at an event this pretty girl comes up to me for a pic. There was a crowd and I was trying to do as many pics as possible. People were jostling and in the middle of this chaos,the girl was back for another pic. My manager (who is very sharp) promptly told her, ‘Aapne toh le liya…plz aur nahi‘. To which she said, ‘Galat side se liya,main achchi nahi lag rahi ,yeh post nahi kar paungi‘.

Refusing to give up, the fan followed Vidya Balan for the perfect selfie. “She was miserable and followed me to the car ,relentless in her pursuit to get the perfect picture ..almost making it sound like her life depended on it…I obliged …I then got into the car bemused…and it made me think.”

“You know I’ve always preferred my left profile over my right…but overtime as I started on this journey of trying to love and accept myself a little more each day, I realised that liking one profile meant liking one part of me to the exclusion of the otherbe,” Vidya writes about how her own past insecurities, adding, “[Be]cause the truth is that I not only liked my left but also disliked my right profile. I would tell photographers and cinematographers to avoid shooting me from the right…I would be scared if someone shot me from the right cuz I thought it was my ugly side.It was almost like the fear of being found out.”

But today things are different and the actress has “growing acceptance and love for every part of me and all of me,” Vidya confesses. “I don’t care where I’m being shot from. I’m no longer scared of anyone seeing that side of me. Truth be told,today not only do i like my right profile, I actually love it… and not because my right profile changed but because i realised it’s never going to.What changed is the way I looked at myself and that changed how I see myself.”

Explaining the intent behind the two gorgeous images, Vidya says, “Hence I returned to the room and took this selfie at the end of a long day sans make-up …because I LIKE me just the way I am. Do you like one profile less than the other? If you do and even if you don’t ,post that selfie with both your sides in full glory.”

Replying to the post, Dia Mirza said, “VB,” with three heart emojis. Vidya Balan’s co-star Ileana D’Cruz wrote: “You beaut,” with heart emojis. Actress Pallavi Sharda said, “LOVE this!” with a fire emoji. Kubbra Sait said, “Yes.”

Vidya Balan’s Instagram timeline is full of divine images of the actress.  Take a look at some of the posts:

On the work front, Vidya Balan will be seen in Neeyat as well as an untitled film with Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D’Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy.