Vidya Balan is a Tamilian from Kerala. She is from the Iyer community. She comes from a middleclass family from Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Vidya did her schooling from St Antony's School and later on joined St Xavier's College from where she graduated in sociology.
When she was doing her MA from Mumbai University, she was offered a role in a Malayalam film titled Chakram with Mohanlal, one of Vidya Balans favorite actors. However, the project was shelved mid-way and Vidya had to wait for few more years to make her movie debut.