Rise and Shine

FOCUSED, DETERMINED and mature beyond her years, ALIA BHATT is taking her craft to a whole new level.

- Priyanka Bhadani

In December 2015, Shaheen Bhatt, in an article for a fashion glossy, wrote about how her little sister, Alia Bhatt, at the age of five, wanted to be a “star” and nothing else. “At the age of five she had her mind made up—she was going to be a star,” wrote Shaheen. “It’s not a decision she ever questioned and that unwavering certainty is the only thing I have ever envied her for. While I went back and forth between vet, astronaut, writer and unemployed millionaire, Alia always staunchly maintained that she was going to act. And act, she did.”

When you talk to Bhatt, now one of the most sought-after actors in Bollywood, you realise that she does not even have a hobby other than acting. Her ‘hobbies’ are going to the gym or a Pilates workout. She nonchalantly says, “I never thought of doing anything else. I think the lack of a plan B drives me to do better in the only plan I have.”

A year after Shaheen’s column, Bhatt has three more films to her credit. A total of eight in a four-year career. The year began on a good note for her with Kapoor & Sons, followed by the controversial and hard hitting Udta Punjab, which saw her playing a Bihari migrant, and the most recent Dear Zindagi in which her urbane portrayal of Kaira has been applauded by many.