Alia Bhatt had a grand launch in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student of The Year and the film was filled with gorgeous frames and stylish costumes. Her character Shanaya was not very different from Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, albeit a lot more naive and emotional when it came to love. Even if some felt Bhatt was a little raw in emoting, they knew she would go far.

And speaking about her journey as an actor as she completes eight years in Bollywood in 2020, the filmmaker talked to Rajeev Masand in a video interview, which also had Bhatt on the other side of the screen, about not extracting her talent with her debut. He said, "She wasn't used for her talent at all. In many ways, her emotional launch is Student of the Year but her real professional launch is Imtiaz Ali's Highway. The way he nurtured her as an actor, the way he put her out there is something I didn't do at all."