Alia Bhatt

Entry into the cinema industry Alia Bhatt playing the childhood phase of Preity Zinta in the movie Sangharsh at the age of six made her quiet debut in Bollywood the year 1999. Alia Bhatt had always been fascinated towards the glamour and starbuzz of Bollywood and also had failed sometimes when she participated in some casting calls and auditioned for movie roles, despite her big filmy upbringing, she always wanted to create a place for herself in movies. Alia Bhatt after many letdowns was finally cast by Karan Johar as he was impressed by her for her girl-next-door looks and her flawless personality. Bhatt made her feature film lead role debut after losing much weight in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year which also marked the debut of Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra incidentally went on to become stars in their own right. Bhatt played an eccentric, over-the-top flamboyant girl in the seemingly cheesy romantic drama which was noted for the sophistication that Alia Bhatt gave the character. Student Of The Year despite boasting of an age-old premise and workspace was well received for Karan Johar’s exceptional craft in filmmaking thus paving the stage for the perfect debut for the young brigade, especially for Alia Bhatt. The Resurgent Phase and consequent shift to Stardom (2014) Alia Bhatt returned to the mainstream with the romantic road movie Highway directed by Imtiaz Ali which gave her a challenging role where she was seen emoting the mental agonies of a girl who develops Stockholm syndrome after being kidnapped by a group led by Randeep Hooda. Veera Tripathi which was a highly matured character for a budding actress; Alia had made her intentions pretty clear with the sober yet deeply intense depiction of emotions. Alia Bhatt’s performance was stated as one of the main reasons behind the wide acceptability of the tricky storyline with Ali’s unconventional visual style although the movie went on to become a commercial failure. Next came the film version of the best-selling romantic novel ‘Two States’ by Chetan Bhagat where Alia played a Tamil girl who falls in love with a Punjabi boy enacted by Arjun Kapoor amidst the mental turmoil of keeping their relationship intact owing to their contrasting family cultures and social outlook. Alia Bhatt played her role well as a Tamilian girl raised by conventional South Indian parents, and she continued her streak from Highway with her power-packed performance of the carefree urban youth without compromising in bringing about the psychological nuances of the character. Two States was a phenomenal hit and was appreciated by the critics too. Alia Bhatt came next in the limelight with her role in the film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya a romantic comedy that was intended as a tribute to the yesteryear classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), though a commercial success Bhatt’s performance extracted strictly average reviews in comparison to her earlier works. By the end of 2014, Alia Bhatt had been declared a highly promising actress and was also slowly becoming a celebrity figure in Bollywood with her selected body of work in a short time. Consistent Follow-ups (2015-2016) The year 2015 saw Alia Bhatt yet again returning to the romedy genre for Shaandaar directed by Vikas Bahl opposite Shahid Kapoor for the very first time. Shaandaar, despite the unbelievable hype, was an utter flop; even Bhatt’s consistent ways of delivering strong-footed characters could not save the disappointing effort. Bhatt collaborated once again with Dharma Productions; with whom she had some of her best hits in the year 2016 with the dysfunctional family drama Kapoor & Sons also starring Fawad Khan and Sidharth Malhotra which saw her homecoming to her forte; the overpowering, bubbly and lifelike interpretation of deep and mysterious character traits, the casualness in her acting was noted especially while doing lengthy conversation scenes, Kapoor & Sons was her return to winning ways. The highly controversial Phantom Production Udta Punjab came next which had her playing the role of a poverty-stricken Bihari migrant living in Punjab where she managed to give her career-best performance; a small detour from the energetic, fun-packed characters to a more intense seasoned piece which proved to be an important phase in her career till then where she mouthed some of the finest satirical one-liners of recent times in Hindi cinema. Alia Bhatt also appeared in a small cameo in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil this year and Dear Zindagi is her latest release where she is seen sharing screen space with Shahrukh Khan for the very first time along with director Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish fame). Dear Zindagi has opened to rave reviews, especially praising the Magical chemistry shared between Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and also as Alia has once again portrayed her happy-go-lucky self, the movie is doing good from the reviews that have been on. Bhatt has two upcoming biggies like the sequel Badrinath Ki Dulhania again with Varun Dhawan and is also reported to be a part of the next Ayan Mukerji directorial starring Ranbir Kapoor this year.