Vidya Balan was born in Ottapalam, Palakkad District, Kerala, to P. R. Balan (Vice President of ETC Channel) and a housewife mother in an Tamil speaking Iyer family.She has an elder sister, Priya.
She did her schooling at St. Anthony Girls' High School, Chembur, Mumbai, and later attended St. Xavier's College where she majored in Anthropology. She went on to study MA at the University of Mumbai, when she got her first film offer.
South Indian actress Priyamani is cousin sister of Bollywood actress Vidya balan