Bollywood actress Vidya Balan today rued about the yellow taxis being phased out and getting lost saying the symbolic transport is one of the images that one can associate with Kolkata and she would miss the iconic vehicle in the city.

The actress was in the city at the 30 Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) for the screening of her first feature film, Bhalo Theko that was released about 21 years back. Speaking about her memories while doing the film, the actress pointed out how she was nostalgic about Kolkata’s iconic features including trams and yellow taxis. The yellow taxis marked an iconic part of her films including Kahani and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, having portrayals of Kolkata in the story. Even during the promotion of her recent film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, the actress had posed with a yellow taxi barefoot at the symbolic Howrah Bridge. “During the promotions of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Kartik and I posed in yellow taxis on Howrah Bridge, barefoot. So there are some images that you associate with Kolkata – the trams, Howrah Bridge, puchkas and yellow taxis. So, I will miss it. It breaks my heart to think that I am not going to get any more of the yellow taxis on the streets of Kolkata. I have heard, trams are also getting reduced. I will miss both,” said the actress.

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Speaking about her role models in acting from the Bengali film industry, the actress reiterated her admiration for Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Suchitra Sen, Uttam Kumar, Anil Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh and so on.

Getting nostalgic about her attending the KIFF 20 years back, the Parineeta actress also underlined reasons of her love for Bengali films and said, “Bengali cinema is such that it is loved by all. Even in Hindi films, there are so many Bengali directors. Their way of portraying the stories is very different. Maybe that’s the reason they are liked by all.”

Talking about the things she loves about the city, the protagonist of the film Kahani added, “The joy one has in Kolkata’s culture of adda with friends is great. Also, if I am unable to come to Kolkata, I start wishing to visit Kalighat Temple. The third thing I love from Kolkata is nolen gurer sandesh.”

Elucidating on the recent trends of people not preferring to watch movies in cinema halls, the actress said, “It is sad to see that people have forgotten to watch movies in cinema halls. But I firmly believe that even though people have forgotten going to theatres for now, they will return to cinema halls. We all like to watch and experience something together at home or somewhere else. But watching films together is a different experience. So people will return to cinema halls.”