She started off as a rich, snooty High School girl with a tender heart in flossy Student of The Year and went on to play a sexually abused drug addict in dark and gritty Udta Punjab. In just a little more than five years, Alia Bhatt has become nation's sweetheart, primarily for the kind of roles she has chosen to do on the big screen. From being a prodigy of the ‘elite’ Dharma Productions, Alia has also become a favourite of many off-beat directors like Abhishek Chaubey, Imtiaz Ali and Zoya Akhtar, making her one of the most sought-after talent in the industry.
She's 25, already has 2 Filmfare Awards resting on her shelf and a life anyone would envy looking at. Despite being a 'star-kid', Alia has a familiar air around her that makes her connect to the younger generation of the country. Be it her films or a glimpse of her real life through social media, Alia connects with the youth like no one other can, and thus deserves the title of 'Star for the Millennials'.
- Her Urge to Experiment
While it is a known fact Alia started her career as Shanaya, a typical Karan Johar character, not many know that she signed Imtiaz Ali's Highway much before SOTY released. At the age of 19, Alia decided to be Shanaya and Veera in the same year, working with two completely different directors who belong to different schools of thought. But she has had the maturity to experiment right from the beginning, never sticking to one particular genre only and balancing commercial and art cinema with much ease. Alia opted for typical Bollywood romance with a fun twist and an edge of reality attached, in 2 States and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Both the films ensured Alia commercial viability which is important to survive in Bollywood.
Then came 2016, the best year in Alia Bhatt's career. From playing a much real Tia in Kapoor and Sons to a gritty Bihari immigrant who is sexually assaulted for months before seeking refuge in drugs in Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab, Alia did it all. Her character in Udta was so challenging that all other actresses in the industry refused to take up. Alia did complete justice to a rural role which was completely away from her real life- a privileged girl who grew up in Mumbai in an affluent, protective household. Thus, her character of an abused Bihari immigrant struck a chord with the audience because of the genuine pain she managed to evoke. Credits to Alia to bring the gritty side of the menace so well onscreen. She got a role of her career and we found an actress who could multitask as a 'Star'.
Within a year, Alia shed her tolling character of Udta and took another refreshing role as Kaira for Gauri Shinde's slice of life film Dear Zindagi. Playing a role much closer to her own self and with people her age, the film dealt with this generation's emotional detachment and how it leads to depression and anxiety. Kaira's vulnerabilities, passion, and insecurities were adopted by Alia, making it another memorable film. Now the actress has again taken up two starkly different characters in Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy, where she plays a girl from Dharavi and a sci-fi romance Brahmastra.
Another film where Alia will be seen showing her acting chops this year is Meghna Gulzar's intense drama Raazi.
- Figuring Life Like Just Like Us
While Kiara and Tia might be the most real characters played by Alia, connected to urban youth, her real life is seems just as complicated as any of us. The 24-year-old actress is figuring out life, just like most millennials despite being one of the most sort after faces in Bollywood.
As her Instagram bio reads, "Moody, Floaty, Fire and Desire", Alia is every emotion. She's dreamy like any 20 something would be, loves to sleep in on days wishing to skip her work (or workout), gets awestruck whenever a phrase/line of fellow actors strikes a chord and loves to take selfies! While the world wants to swap its life with Alia, the girl herself wants to swap her life with popular model Gigi Hadid.
In an interview given to a popular magazine, Alia dwelled a little more into her personal space and revealed some quirky answers, something most of the urban millennial will relate to. From spying on Ryan Gosling to taking a selfie on Mars, even the golden girl of Bollywood has a few fetishes. It is her charm, that makes her relatable to a generation who identifies with nothing or no one.
- Devil May Care Attitude
Remember when Alia made a fool out of herself on Koffee With Karan Season 4? Well, the actress doesn't. After a big goof up on national television and becoming the joke of the country, Alia moved on with her much glorious life as people behind her kept talking about her 'dumbness' and a typical 'star-kid' attitude with no knowledge of the real world.
When rumours about her dating Sidharth Malhotra emerged she kept quiet and yet was clicked on lunch dates and parties with him. Never to deny or accept, Alia doesn't bother to feed the paparazzi anything. Although, she has her own way to get back at the rumours. When people started talking about her cold-war with Parineeti Chopra and Shraddha Kapoor, instead of giving a statement, Alia opted for a smarter move and posted pictures of herself hanging out with Chopra and promoting Shraddha's film.
Her motto: staying away from controversy, her goal: keep working and let the paparazzi construct anything they wish to. She has better work to do than pay heed to negativity in her life. Isn't that we all do? *Peace Out*
- Cracking Jokes and Taking One on Her Too
Making people laugh is an art, but laughing at yourself while the world watches is a talent not everybody possesses. While, the world called her names for confusing the name of the President of India, Alia made sure that the nation had a good laugh over her goof-up. She collaborated with AIB to poke fun at herself and her general knowledge. She sportingly took jibes by journalists as she went on to promote her films and even in the latest Koffee With Karan Season, she took it all in her stride as she beat SRK in the Quiz and declared that her GK is now improving.
This sporting quality of hers just reveals how confident she is about her art and doesn’t care about her image, which otherwise, industry people are so conscious about. This temperament of hers makes her a youth favourite, because for a generation which has grown up watching Lizzie McGuire, 'perfect' doesn't exist and every flaw is beautiful.
From her personality to her fashion choices everything about Alia is breezy. She is a terrific performer, an ever amused dreamer and an extremely hard-working actor, all these qualities not only make her an industry favourite but also a mass favourite. Her 'demotional' personality, millennial vibe and devil may care attitude makes her a face of this new wave of stardom that has entered the industry. Very rightly, she is the star of this generation that feeds on dreams and lives to work.
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