text: is vidya balan a mallu ?? i've got a doubt whether she's a malayali.....pls. clear my doubt...... she's a palaghat brahmin - so part mallu and part tamil (palaghat brahmins are tamil brahmins settled in palaghat district of kerala). grew-up in bombay(chembur). her first film was in malayalam (chakram, opposite mohanlal) which never came out. before parineetha, she's acted in a bengali film, a few soaps, some music videos and lots of ads inculding one for surf excel.