February 2015

Friday 20 February 2015

Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993) is an Indian actress and singer who appears in Bollywood films. The daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, she made her acting debut with Karan Johar’s romantic drama Student of the Year (2012). She subsequently garnered praise for her performances in Imtiaz Ali’s road movie Highway (2014) and the romantic drama 2 States (2014). In 2014, Daily News and Analysis mentioned her as one of the most promising newcomers in Bollywood.

Bhatt’s first acting role was as a child artist in Sangharsh (1999), starring Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta where she played the younger version of Zinta’s character.She had her first leading role in 2012 with Karan Johar’s Student of the Year, alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.She portrayed the role of Shanaya, a sophisticated teenage girl who is in a relationship with Dhawan’s character but is attracted to the character played by Malhotra. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote of her performance, “Alia’s role is reminiscent of Kareena Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Stylish, classy, born with a silver spoon, she’s someone who loves to flaunt not just her clothes and bags, but also her riches. Extremely photogenic, Alia makes a super-confident debut.”Film critic Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times also mentioned the similarities with Kapoor’s character, but noted that her performance was “without the killer attitude.”Student of the Year was a financial success, grossing INR700 million (US$11 million) domestically.

Bhatt has performed at the Filmfare, Screen, and Stardust award ceremonies, and has also participated in a stage show in Hong Kong alongside Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra.In 2013, she performed at a charity event alongside Dhawan, Malhotra, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for the flood-affected victims of Uttarakhand.She also took part in a campaign for PETA to raise awareness about homeless animals