BEYOND THE ORDINARY

JITESH PILLAAI INTERVIEWS ALIA BHATT, WHO IS BEAMING WITH THE MATERNITY GLOW AND IS BASKING IN THE SUCCESS OF DARLINGS, HER FIRST PRODUCTION VENTURE

- JITESH PILLAAI

  She finds the space between the words in the dialogue and makes magic.

Is there anything she can't do other than fly? She does it on screen. Alia Bhatt in her latest outing, Darlings breaks your heart and gives you hope. She's soft, she's vulnerable, and she's hard as nails. She morphs in every scene like a chameleon. How does she do it? Maybe there is some "source" in the ether from where she channels this changeling persona. This year, from her spitfire turn in Gangubai Kathiawadi to Darlings, it's nothing short of terrific. Darlings deals with the not-so-easily discussed topic of domestic abuse. Darlings is dark and funny, and full mar the director who makes a moving and yet zany caper about those living life on the edge. At the heart of it all is Alia as Badru, ably supported by the sensational Shefali Shah, is there anything he can't do-Vijay Varma and the dependable Roshan Mathew. With such razor-sharp ensemble performances and a movie which made me think about why women go through what they do, I asked Alia Bhatt a few questions.

You have turned producer with Darlings, despite the director, Jasmeet K. Reen, being a debutant. Is it your gut feeling which says this is the kind of film you should produce? Jasmeet co-wrote it with Parveez Shaikh. The fact that she wrote the script and the fact that she wanted to direct it made me believe that she knew this world better than anyone else. I felt if anybody could do justice to the script, it would be her. There was also this gut feeling that she had the understanding and good sense because there was a certain texture and tonality that she had brought to Badru's world. The script was so unique and surprising. Somebody gave me an opportunity when I was a nobody, and after having been in the industry for so many years, I also want to be able to support new talent. Instinctively, I felt that this would fit just right.