Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993) is an Indian film actress and singerwho appears in Bollywood films. The daughter of filmmakerMahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, she made her actingdebut with Karan Johar's romantic comedy Student of the Year(2012), a box office success. She subsequently garnered praise for herperformances in Imtiaz Ali's road movie Highway (2014) and thehighly successful romantic comedy 2 States (2014). These primeaccomplishments have established her as one of the most promisingnewcomers in Bollywood.

Early life

Bhatt was born on 15 March 1993, to Indian filmdirector Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. Her father isof primarily Gujarati descent while her mother isof Kashmiri and German ancestry. Bhatthas one sister, Shaheen (born 1988) and two half-siblings,Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt. Actor Emraan Hashmi anddirector Mohit Suri are her cousins while producer MukeshBhatt is her uncle.

Career

Alia Bhatt with Sidharth Malhotra (left) and Varun Dhawan(right) promoting Student of the Year in 2012

Bhatt's first acting role was as a child artist in Sangharsh(1999), starring Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta where sheplayed the younger version of Zinta's character. She had herfirst leading role in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student of theYear, alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.She portrayed the role of Shanaya, a sophisticated teenage girl who isin a relationship with Dhawan's character but is attracted to thecharacter played by Malhotra. Taran Adarsh of BollywoodHungama wrote of her performance, "Alia's role is reminiscent ofKareena Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Stylish, classy,born with a silver spoon, she's someone who loves to flaunt not justher clothes and bags, but also her riches. Extremely photogenic, Aliamakes a super-confident debut." Film critic AnupamaChopra of Hindustan Times also mentioned the similarities withKapoor's character, but noted that her performance was "without thekiller attitude." Student of the Year was a financialsuccess, grossing INR 700 million (US$12 million)domestically.

In 2014, Bhatt had three film releases. She played the protagonist ofImtiaz Ali's road film Highway opposite Randeep Hooda.Her portrayal of a lonely teenage girl who develops stockholmsyndrome after being abducted was acclaimed by the critics.Rachit Gupta of Filmfare mentioned that "[a]t 20, it's surprisinghow Alia has got so many deft nuances right. It's as if the actor hasgrown with the character. She is truly one of the most promising newactors in Hindi films." Sonia Chopra of Sify.com added thatBhatt is "[c]ompletely immersed" in her role, and that "Alia'suninhibited and raw performance will have you emotionally invested inher character all through." However, the film underperformedat the box office.

Bhatt next featured in Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala's jointproduction 2 States with Arjun Kapoor. An adaptation ofChetan Bhagat's novel of the same name, it narrates the storyof two IIM Ahmedabad students who encounter trouble in convincingtheir parents to approve of their relationship. For her role as AnanyaSwaminatham, a headstrong Tamil girl, she learnt thelanguage. Critics were appreciative of her performancewith Rediff.com publishing that Bhatt "really grows into thecharacter and makes you believe that she's a career-oriented IIM-Agrad." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express added thatBhatt was a "surprise" and was "easy and fresh and natural."The film emerged as a major commercial success, earning overINR 1 billion (US$17 million) in domestic ticket sales.Bhatt's final appearance that year was as Kavya Pratap Singh, aPunjabi girl who engages in a romantic affair with a stranger a fewdays prior to her wedding, in the romantic comedy Humpty Sharma KiDulhania. Co-starring Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Shukla, the filmwas described as a tribute to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)by Johar, who served as producer. Writing for IndiaToday, Rohit Khilnani thought that Bhatt had pitched in "one of herbest performances so far", though Nandini Ramnath of Mint foundher performance to be lacking in subtlety, writing that she was "morecomfortable acting out her feelings through dialogue andactions". Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania also proved tobe a box office hit.

As of July 2014, Bhatt has signed on for Vikas Bahl's Shandaar, adestination wedding film opposite Shahid Kapoor, in which shewill play the role of an insomniac. She has also committedto star alongside Ranbir Kapoor in Ayan Mukerji's untitledproject, a fantasy film about a man with superpowers.

Other works

Bhatt at the PCJ Delhi Couture Week, 2012

Post her debut, Bhatt performed at several award functions likeFilmfare, Screen, and Stardust apart from at an international event inHong Kong with Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra. She alsoperformed at a special event alongside Dhawan, Malhotra, AdityaRoy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor and Huma Qureshi to raise fundsfor the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand. She went onto shoot a special PETA ad for cats and other homelessanimals.

Bhatt performed playback singing along with Zeb for the song"Sooha Saaha" in Highway (2014). A. R. Rahman, the composer ofthe film, invited her to his music school to undergotraining. Also in 2014, she sang the unplugged version ofthe track "Samjhawan" for the composers Sharib-Toshi inHumpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

In the media

Bhatt is the ambassador of popular brands such as Coca-Cola,Garnier and Maybelline. Raedita Tandon,editor of Filmfare, wrote about Bhatt, "After meeting Alia Bhatt,I came away with an unexpected feeling. Interviewing her was more likehaving a conversation with a gal pal. She's what one wishes everycelebrity was - carefree and relaxed. There's no mincing of words withher and certainly no diplomacy. Maybe it's because she's all of 20years. Or maybe she gets it from her father, Mahesh Bhatt. Eitherway, she's a delight. Though there has been a surge of young actorsover the past years, only a few have managed to make a mark. Alia isdefinitely one of them. That too, with just her debut film, Student ofthe Year. But she's under no delusions. She knows she has a long wayto go and is willing to work her 'ass off'"

Galleries of Alia Bhatt