Aila, Alia!

Shortly before he became the OTT sensationstar of sorts actor Pankaj Tripathi used to be Alia Bhattrsquos tutor mdash for a month This is when Bhatt was preparing to play Kumari Pinky a brutally abused druggedout migrant girl from the underclasses in Udta Punjab 2016ldquoThere is a lsquoPankaj Tripathi waversquo that came na but it came after thatrdquo Bhatt recalls her trainer whom shersquod meet every day mastering body language Jharkhandi dialect down to how her character sits on haunches for hoursItrsquos the only time in her career that Bhatt confesses she went ldquomethodrdquo on herself Meaning abandoned cellphone never stepped out of hotel room consumed no entertainment spent time interactingempathising with local youth never switched on the TV and simply marinated in the character until the shoot ended Why Because she wanted to prove she was ldquoa chameleon as an actorrdquo To whom To herself she saysBut looks like even before the audience first to her director Abhishek Chaubey mdash who hadnrsquot imagined Bhatt at all in the role while scripting it She had in fact read the said script through Shahid Kapoor her coactor in the romantic fantasy Shaandaar 2015 that they were shooting at the time She actively went up to Chaubey asking him to consider her for the battered female lead The initial looktest didnrsquot wholly convince him eitherAlso ReadSit With Hitlist I used to think that I will marry very late says Alia Bhatt watch videoShe even learnt to play hockey for a month which is only part of the characterrsquos backstory not even in the film The effort totally matches the outcome Although she says ldquoThere is a part of me that says I wonrsquot do it again of course never say never I only played that part for 20 days which was great I donrsquot know how I would have survived it for say 60 daysrdquoAnd itrsquos not that she hasnrsquot attempted sufficient variety since her debut in Karan Joharrsquos Student of the Year SOTY 2012 a highschool musical playing the highheeled dolledup Shanaya Singhania whorsquos also admittedly nothing like Bhatt contrary to popular belief ldquoIf you saw me in the clothes that I wore for my first audition you would know how I was really not that characterrdquo Apparently around 400 young girls tested for that debuting role Bhatt was in 11th standard thenBhattrsquos Gangubai Kathiawadi is among Bollywoodrsquos few hits of the year so farSet for a starry career she followed up SOTY with occupying a polaropposite space as Veera Tripathi with a traumatic past in Highway 2014 How did she land up there In the same way that she grabbed Udta Punjab for herself mdash through persuasive skillsShe recalls ldquoImtiaz was thinking of going with an older woman He bumped into me at a screening and I was very actively pursuing him I gave him a vibe that was genuine and heartfelt And Imtiaz Ali offering me a film after Rockstar and Jab We Met of course was a big moment for me I read the script and was like okay tough tough toughhellip I donrsquot pay anyone to take me in their movies in case anybody was trying to sell that narrative I think dedication sells on the top of the pyramid and then come the rest Talent is secondary hard work is number onerdquoAlso ReadAlia Bhatt shares adorable video of Ranbir Kapoor dancing on Brahmastra songMore importantly in showbiz nothing sells like commercial success And Bhatt has to her credit quite possibly the best boxoffice report card in Bombay Over the past decade all films starring her have performed at the cinemas barring merely two Shersquos quick to point them out mdash Shaandaar 2015 and Kalank 2019A still from DarlingsAs I write this Darlings 2022 Bhattrsquos latest release is trending at number two across the world on Netflix She made a longish appearance in one of Indiarsquos greatest hits ever SS Rajamoulirsquos RRR 2022 Sanjay Leela Bhansalirsquos Gangubai Kathiawadi 2022 with Bhatt in the title role in fact turned out to be a facesaviour of sorts for Bollywood in the theatres post the pandemic while pretty much all the topstarrers have bombed sinceEver since she can remember Bhatt had always wanted to be an actor As an audience as she described it she was a ldquorunty thingrdquo watching all of Govindarsquos No 1 films in the front row of Juhursquos Chandan cinema ldquoI was like mujhe Govinda banna hairdquoShe entered the big screen as Preity Zintarsquos child version in her father Mahesh Bhattrsquos production Sangharsh 1999 when she was six Enough offers came her way thereafter for similar parts but her mother Soni Razdan also an actor was clear she didnrsquot want Bhatt to become a ldquochild actorrdquo instead she should ldquostudy lead a normal life acting can happen laterrdquoAlia Bhatt in Udta PunjabThe mother made an exception once though This is when she took little Bhatt out for an audition suggesting itrsquod be a good experience Itrsquos only when she reached the building and her mom asked the watchman about Bhansalirsquos floor that she figured she was going to audition before a director she had been fangirling over forever ldquoHow ironic na that even the building he stays in is called Magnum OpusrdquoThe role was for Bhansalirsquos Black Taking an instant shine to the kid Bhansali told the mother right then that while he wasnrsquot considering her for Black he did have a film in mind wholly centred on her This was going to be Balika Vadhu that Bhatt wouldrsquove debuted as a heroine with when she was nineldquoWe did costume rehearsals looktests I went ahead and danced on Dola re dola and all of that Ghoom phirke I donrsquot know what happened I went back to school Sir decided not to make the film But the keeda of working with him remained stuck in my head When I joined the movies I was told Sir only works with actors at their prime I knew once that happens Irsquoll get the chancerdquoA still from Gully BoyShe still feels he shouldrsquove gone ahead with Balika Vadhu which became a hugely popular network TV show few years later At the press conference before Gangubairsquos premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival Bhansali described how Bhatt had stormed out of the directorrsquos office having first heard the filmrsquos conceptscript She laughs ldquoSir exaggerates a little bit He said she ran out of the office He was not wrong I did get a little thrown off with the subject because we were supposed to do another film Inshallah a romance with Salman Khan that got shelved So I was like you know Sir it is a very different subject Totally different from what I had imagined I need to digest it for a second but it was a nobrainer to accept the offerrdquoBoxoffice successes apart what has struck audiences is Bhattrsquos capacity to convincingly inhabit worlds so separate from hers mdash whether as a mature Kashmiri spy undercover in Pakistan in Raazi 2018 or for that matter the cutesy girl from Ambala in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania 2014 mdash given a protected upbringing with life experiences that barely stretch beyond Juhu the tony filmy neighbourhood where shersquos lived all through In terms of the worldsetting the only film she says that comes close to her own is Dear Zindagi 2016The Udta Punjab acting process was of course an anomaly Otherwise she says besides unconditionally submitting to her directors and approaching the partscript ldquofrom an academic senserdquo beforehand mdash on the set she likes to be in the moment trusting her instinct and spontaneityldquoFor instance in Darlings I depended a lot on the debutant director Jasmeet K Reen It helps to work with a writerdirector You know that theyrsquove lived with the script for that long Jasmeet spent three months in Byculla where Darlings is set She would come and tell me things You are then really responding living breathing that moment on set That is why I had so much fun working with Shefali Shah because she is exactly like that You donrsquot know what she is going to do Also I am a bit of a sponge You can tell who Irsquove hung out with on a given day mdash because I start speaking like that personrdquoWhich was the case with Gangubai Bhatt reveals about Bhansali being the performative inspiration ldquoI took so much of Sirrsquos personality and put that into Gangubairsquos character mdash the way he speaks thinks has a certain attitude tashanhellip Because it is in his head Film is the directorrsquos medium And then itrsquos the written word The actor has to collect all those things and place it in front of the camerardquoWhich kind of explains the unique range Bhatt manages with three disparate directors mdash channelling lowerdeck Bombay in what can be seen as a trilogy in her career mdash playing Safeena from Kurla in Zoya Akhtarrsquos Gully Boy 2019 down to Gangubai from Kamathipura Darlings in BycullaWithin Mumbai itself itrsquos not that therersquos been anything regular about Bhattrsquos own life or so one guesses The first time I saw her from a distance was at the premiere of SOTY mdash she wouldrsquove been 19 decidedly seeming a brat Everyone is allowed their 20s and all the senseless swag that comes with it Only that a life entirely spent under a spotlight doesnrsquot allow for such leeway Thatrsquos been the 20s for her Shersquos 29 Did it require a certain mental adjustmentShe admits ldquoWell you got to keep it together at most times yes I am very open to peoplersquos opinions That is the only way a person learns But there is this humbling part in my personality that also comes with my upbringing and the people around me I am not the first member of my own fan club I do not believe the sun shines out of my backside I genuinely believe I am here to do a job and must continue to do it well which is a byproduct of a lot of people doing their job well It is not just me I value thatrdquoThe question was actually meant more in terms of whether she has led the normal 20s pulling allnighters at nightclubs playing the fool with friends etc ldquoActually I recently realised that I have literally not been a lsquopresentrsquo friend for 10 years And they let me be lsquounpresentrsquo because they knew I was chasing something And you have to make sacrifices to try and get what you want I have the same set of nine friends I went to Jamnabai school with At the end of the day I feel most comfortable with them There is a certain version of myself that I have to be in a public space which I donrsquot in their company What matters to them is me being me Thatrsquos very grounding The reason I have not lost them is because of them Because they have been so understanding supportiverdquoThe other aspect that separates a regular person in their 20s from those killing it in showbiz or sports as well is your income levels mdash which go in the opposite direction of almost all other jobs where you make so much less at an early age and financially peak only nearing retirement when there is hardly the same energyinclination left to splurgeAt what age did Bhatt buy her first car ldquoAt 1920 Audi Q5rdquo First home ldquoAt 21 But listen I feel very touched and grateful for the privileges Thatrsquos why I believe in giving back I have set aside a certain amount of money that goes into CSR on a yearly basis for animals rights protection that I feel very passionately aboutrdquoWhat did she get paid for her big Bollywood debut SOTY ldquoR15 lakh I deposited the cheque straight to my mother and very nicely said lsquoMamma you handle the money Till date my mother handles my moneyrdquoWhere does she invest her money mdash Irsquom just curious having never met someone as rich through their 20s with an incomeearning that is totally theirs ldquoIn fact my CA whorsquos also a family friend gets stressed out mdash that I donrsquot spend any money donrsquot invest that I need to enjoy a little bit But I am not much of a spenderrdquoThat said Bhatt concedes she does have some sort of ldquobusiness brainrdquo ldquoItna toh mujhe pata hai I created my own childrenrsquos clothing brand and I put my own money into it I didnrsquot go to an investor And the brand has grown a lotrdquo Itrsquos called Edamamma meaningldquoMy fiveyearold catrsquos name is Edward who is my inspiration for everything So EdAMamma like Edrsquos mama He is there in my production house logo as well there is a catrsquos whiskers and in the beginning of my filmrdquoBhatt launched her movie company with Darlings and named it Eternal Sunshine which is an obvious reference to Michael Gondryrsquos 2004 romantic scifi surely ldquoIt is one of my favourite films But itrsquos also the feeling that movies evoke I believe movies are an eternal sunshinerdquoHer character Badru in Darlings presumably the same age as her actually has a checklist hanging in her wall at home with lifegoals for boxes that she must tick before she attains a certain age Why does that sound familiarHerersquos Bhatt the actor with a house car checked before 21 Bollywood debut before 20 started a film company and then married and is even expecting a child before she turns 30 Is she following some timeline mdash yesnomaybeBhatt says ldquoContrary to the character in Darlings I donrsquot have a list I have never had a plan In fact I used to think I will get married very late I was one of those girls who didnrsquot really talk about marriage much But it is totally different when you fall deeply in love and you also feel like okay no you want to get into that next point of your lifeldquoThat happened very naturally with Ranbir Kapoor I donrsquot know why It just happened And I am not feeling like my work will stop pause or change I will continue to work till the very end But that raising a family section of your life is something that you have to give your time and energy to It is not going to happen byitselfrdquoAs for manifesting life events herersquos something that canrsquot be denied about her relationship with her nowhusband Ranbir Kapoor Over the past decade pick up any interview especially the rapidfire round type stuff thatrsquos common on YouTube chatsEvery time shersquos been asked about a crush someone shersquod like to date onscreen etc mdash inevitably her answer has been Ranbir Kapoor Which is mildly strange since both of them had been dating other people all through Itrsquos almost like she set her eyes on this guy and simply announced to the world that thatrsquos the one shersquos gonna end up withBhatt laughs ldquoYou know it is really weird I was saying it as a regular lsquocute girlrsquo I was not actually chasing Ranbir on the side or plotting to get Ranbir none of that was happening The fact that I was saying it obviously means I was not thinking about it Sometimes when you think about it you never say itldquoIt is beautiful how it naturally worked out when we started working together on Brahmstra For the longest time we were socially meeting each other But we had our own lives There was no interaction nothing There was not even a friendship I could not even call Ranbir a friend But it naturally happened on that one flight to Tel Aviv when we both were not seeing anybody Both of us were single Both of us were like lsquoOh my God what were we doing all these yearsrsquo lsquoWhy arenrsquot we togetherrsquo It was a question he kinda asked me I was like lsquoI donrsquot knowrsquo So thatrsquos what I was talking about You cannot plan something like thisrdquoBy the way Bhatt will soon get christened BhattKapoor or KapoorBhatt however she plans to put it for her last name While Ranbir has ldquofondlyrdquo changed the marital status on his passport she hasnrsquot had the time to make the submissions since her weddingBut she intends to go in for an official namechange in her travel documents ldquoWe are going to have a child now I donrsquot want to be the Bhatt whilst the Kapoors are traveling together you know what I mean I donrsquot want to feel left outrdquo Her screen name she says will remainthe sameThatrsquos a lotta information to share given her marriage ceremony itself in Mumbai on April 14 2022 seemed no less than a state secret with her fans and therefore the national press going on all fours to scoop out any details they could while none were forthcomingEven the wedding date was open to speculation mdash what with one uncle in the family declaring a date and another cousin contradicting it Itrsquos unclear if either was invited Why not just reveal the date and end the unnecessary attentionBhatt says ldquoPar mere ko announce nahin karna hai Kyunki yeh public event nahin hai Why Itrsquos not a public event Speculation was also that there are 25 vegan counters at the wedding I said I didnrsquot even have 25 guests What am I going to get 25 vegan counters for And I have got a lovely but a basic house You speculate what the hell you want it is fine entertaining I donrsquot care I didnrsquot want to confirm it Because you have to understand I live in a residential building It was anyway a nightmare for the neighbours mdash poor things we sent them all hampershelliprdquoA celebrity destinationwedding away from prying paps could have also saved everyone from the traffic snarl on Pali Hill with TV crews clogging the twolane road for days assuming she could tie the proverbial knot any afternooneveningnightldquoYes haath jodke unse maafi maangti hoon I apologise with folded hands but we made enough preparation I wanted to get married at my house where Ranbir and I have lived together for the past many years since our relationship began It was perfect comfortable mdash I got to interact with everybody because there were only 40 people We arenrsquot the big celebratory kinda peoplerdquoSpeaking of unnecessary media attention while India like the world was reeling under COVID19 in 2020 the national TV news media particularly certain aggro anchors known for manufacturing enemies within chose Bollywood as a fresh egg in their basket Accusing it of being the hotbed of a nepotistic culture mdash the insideroutsider elitesubaltern as binaries being part of a wider politicsThe cityrsquos film industry was under siege in nightly debates that instantly expand to trolling online both feeding off each other Bhatt belongs to the third generation in the film industry Her grandfather Nanabhai Bhatt used to make swashbuckling stunt flicks in the blackampwhite era And she was introduced to Bollywood along with Sidharth Malhotra Varun Dhawan by Karan Johar who was himself under attack for heading a ldquogangrdquordquomafiardquo of sorts She in turn uniquely became the face of Bollywoodrsquos nepotism Surely the insane vitriol can take a toll mdash what did she make of itldquoI believed the only way I could shut the conversation down is through my movies So donrsquot respond donrsquot feel bad Of course I felt bad But feeling bad is a small price to pay for the work that you are respected and loved for I delivered a film like Gangubai So whorsquos having the last laugh At least until I deliver my next flop For now I am laughingrdquoBhatt is combative enough as she makes her case further ldquoI canrsquot keep defending myself verbally And if you donrsquot like me donrsquot watch me I canrsquot help it Thatrsquos something I canrsquot do anything about People have something to say Hopefully I will prove to them with my movies that I am actually worth the space I occupy Thatrsquos the controlled person in me The other person in me is like lsquoWhat the hell is this nonsense Why is this happening for no reasonrsquoldquoNepotism in my opinion exists in every industry Itrsquos leveraging your connections to help somebody get a position You can similarly put somebody forward for a job in tech marketing or finance But if he messes up that job the company goes into a loss Likewise in films the audience is the biggest barometer for success If they believe yoursquore worth that success they will give it to you Another thing mdash how can I control where I am born bhai Tomorrow if my child wants to get into acting or movies they will have to work hard to prove So you have to have a super thick skin about itrdquoWhich she does evidently over a deceptively petite frame mdash even a sense of humour actually Recall the video she once made with AIB lampooning herself responding to memes in 2014 because she couldnrsquot answer who the President of India was on the chat show Koffee with KaranOh wait that reminds me does she know who the President is now To be fair itrsquos a trick question At the point we were recording this episode of Sit with Hitlist Droupadi Murmu was the Presidentelect She remembers Ram Nath Kovind ldquoMadam Presidentrdquo she says Asking me in return if I know who the production designer of Darlings is Fair point I should know but I donrsquot itrsquos Garima Mathur My bad But itrsquos not the same thingWhile Bhatt sweetly retaliates ldquoI donrsquot want to give the wrong answer And tum mujhe dumb samjho mujhe koi interest nahin hai jaake meri film dekho bas Think of me as dumb if you like never mind just go watch my moviesrdquo Oh not dumb at all mdash someone with an uncannily high emotional intelligence for sureWatch the full interview here