This one’s Vidya Balan’s baby all right. In “The Dirty Picture” she had a bevy of actors supporting her (if you’ll forgive the very bad pun) Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor and the seriously undervalued Rajesh Sharma. Plus director Milan Luthria, of course. In “Kahaani”, she’s practically on her own.

Her co-stars are Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui: the former is an experienced Bengali actor but little known in Hindi cinema; the latter has some good films like “Munnabhai MBBS”, “Black Friday” and “Peepli Live”, but minor roles, to his credit.

Her director Sujoy Ghosh has had two disasters (“Aladin”, “Home Delivery”) after the success of his debut film, “Jhankaar Beats”. So it would be fair to say this film is being talked about and being written about here and everywhere largely because of Balan.

Is it also fair to say that this anticipation is largely because of the stupendous success of “The Dirty Picture”? Not entirely. Because Balan has always delivered, no matter what the rest of the package is like. If nothing else, you can count on her sincerity. Besides, “Kahaani” does seem to have an interesting story; a pregnant woman in search of her husband. (You understand, of course, that this guarantees little in B-town, but it’s a beginning.)

So you have Vidya Bagchi, seven months pregnant, winging it from London to Kolkata to meet her husband, Arnab Bagchi, only to find him MIA. Worse, the world insists he does not even exist. Her loneliness is set against the fervour of the city’s biggest party of the year, Durga Puja, as she sets out to uncover the truth.

If that outline sounds intriguing, there’s an interesting side-story attached to it. This is probably the first time in Hindi cinema that the book on which the movie is based will be published after the film releases. Author Advaita Kala (Almost Single), who also wrote the screenplay for the dismal “Anjaana Anjaani”, is taking another shot with “Kahaani”.

Much will be expected of Vidya Balan in her first outing after “The Dirty Picture”. It’s not the safest of bets and she runs the very real risk of puncturing the euphoria that surrounded her portrayal of the ill-fated Silk. Yes, it is unfair to load so many expectations on the beauteous Balan. But that’s showbiz for you.