Alia Bhatt (born March 15, 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who works primarily in Hindi films. She has received numerous honors, including four Filmfare Awards. She is one of India's highest-paid actresses, having appeared on Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and receiving the TIME100 Impact Award in 2022.
She is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, and was born into the Bhatt family. She made her acting debut as a child in the 1999 thriller Sangharsh and went on to play her first leading role in Karan Johar's teen film Student of the Year (2012). She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her performance as a kidnapping victim in Highway (2014), and went on to star in several films produced by Johar's studio Dharma Productions, including the romances 2 States (2014) and Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), as well as the coming-of-age drama Dear Zindagi (2016).
Bhatt won three Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her roles as a Bihari migrant in Udta Punjab (2016), an undercover spy in Raazi (2018), and the volatile girlfriend of an aspiring rapper in Gully Boy (2019). Following two underwhelming films, she received critical acclaim for her performance as the titular character in the biopic Gangubai Kathiawadi, a brief role in the period film RRR, and a role in the fantasy film Brahmstra: Part One - Shiva, all of which are among the top-grossing Indian films of 2022.
In addition to acting in films, Bhatt has her own clothing and handbag line and is the founder of the environmental initiative CoExist. She has performed seven of her film songs, including the single "Samjhawan Unplugged" in 2014. Bhatt is married to actor Ranbir Kapoor and has a daughter with him.
Early years
Alia Bhatt was born on March 15, 1993, to Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. Her father is Gujarati, and her mother is Kashmiri Pandit with British German ancestors. She is a British citizen. Shaheen is her elder sister, and Pooja and Rahul Bhatt are her half-siblings. Her paternal cousins are actor Emraan Hashmi and director Mohit Suri, and her uncle is producer Mukesh Bhatt. Bhatt attended Jamnabai Narsee School but dropped out in her 12th year to pursue a career in acting.
Bhatt has described her childhood as follows: "My upbringing was rather grounded and modest. I did not have the pleasures that people expect me to have because I am Mahesh Bhatt's daughter." Growing up, she did not have a close relationship with her father; Razdan has stated that she raised her children primarily as a single parent because her husband was uninterested in their lives. Bhatt has said that she first realised she wanted to be an actress while rehearsing for the school choir in kindergarten. She quickly began taking dance lessons at Shiamak Davar's institute. Her first acting role came when she was five years old, in her father's production Sangharsh (1999), in which she played the younger version of Preity Zinta's character. Bhatt later stated about her experience, "I don't recall much about the shoot. I'd go to the sets just for the food ".
Early career in acting (2012–2014)
Bhatt made her debut as a leading lady in Karan Johar's teen film Student of the Year in 2012, alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. She auditioned with 500 other girls and was cast after losing 16 kg. She portrayed a sophisticated adolescent caught up in a love triangle. Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times mentioned similarities between her character and Kareena Kapoor's role in Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), but noted that her performance was "without the killer attitude". The Hollywood Reporter's Lisa Tsering dismissed her as "A washout. She is not only unattractive in the dance numbers, but her expressions are limited, and the digital retouching of her face throughout the film is distracting ". Student of the Year was a commercial success, grossing 960 million (US$12 million) at the box office.
Bhatt wanted to play a better role after being disappointed by the critical response to Student of the Year. She discovered it in Imtiaz Ali's road movie Highway (2014), in which she played a lonely adolescent girl who develops Stockholm syndrome after being kidnapped. She took diction lessons to improve her Hindi, and the emotional and physical demands of the role tested her. Ali shot the film in chronological order, with several scenes improvised on set based on Bhatt's reactions. She has stated that several aspects of her character's journey mirrored her own, as it was the first time she encountered situations outside of her own privileged upbringing. Variety's Ronnie Scheib praised her "endearingly cockeyed perf" and praised her for "bringing an underlying sadness and wistful intelligence" to her role. The film underperformed at the box office, despite Bhatt winning the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress and being nominated for Best Actress at the ceremony. She then appeared in Vikas Bahl's short film Going Home, about women's safety.
Bhatt continued to work with Johar's company, Dharma Productions and appeared in the romantic films 2 States and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (both 2014). The former is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same name, and it tells the story of two management students who struggle to persuade their parents of their relationship. She learned to speak her lines in Tamil with the help of a tutor for her role as a headstrong Tamil girl. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express was appreciative of Bhatt, labelling her a "surprise" and "easy and fresh and natural". In Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, directed by Shashank Khaitan and described by Johar as a tribute to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), she played the titular Punjabi girl who has an affair with a flirtatious Punjabi boy, Rakesh, before her wedding. Writing for India Today, Rohit Khilnani thought that Bhatt had pitched in "one of her best performances so far", though Nandini Ramnath of Mint found her lacking in subtlety, writing that she was "more comfortable acting out her feelings through dialogue and actions". Both films were commercially successful, grossing more than a billion dollars (US$13 million) worldwide. Her achievements in 2014 cemented her career.
Progression in one's career (2015–2018)
Bhatt and Bahl reunited for the romantic comedy Shaandaar. The film, which was released in 2015, stars Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as insomniacs who fall in love during a destination wedding. Bhatt "socks life into her character but fails to pump any into this film," wrote Kunal Guha of the Mumbai Mirror. Shaandaar was not a commercial success. She began 2016 with a supporting role in Shakun Batra's ensemble drama Kapoor & Sons, in which she co-starred with Malhotra and Fawad Khan. The film was a critical and commercial success.
Bhatt then played a poor Bihari migrant in Udta Punjab (2016), a crime drama about substance abuse written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey. The intense role was a departure from the mostly lighthearted roles she had previously played, and in preparation, she watched drug abuse documentaries and learned to speak a Bihari dialect. When the Central Board of Film Certification determined that the film portrayed Punjab negatively, it demanded extensive censorship before its release. The Bombay High Court later approved the film's screening with one scene cut. Bhatt's performance was praised by critics. According to Raja Sen of Rediff.com, she "commits to her accent and deals with the film's most unpleasant section, and is stunning during an incendiary speech that elevates the entire film to a whole new level." In Gauri Shinde's coming-of-age film Dear Zindagi, Bhatt played a troubled young woman who consults with a therapist (played by Shah Rukh Khan) (2016). Anisha Jhaveri of IndieWire praised her for giving "three-dimensionality" to millennial angst. Bhatt received attention for her performances in Udta Punjab and Dear Zindagi; for the former, she won the Screen Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, and for the latter, she received an additional Filmfare nomination for Best Actress.
The string of hits continued with Bhatt's next project, the romantic comedy Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), in which she reunited with Khaitan and Dhawan. It tells the story of an independent young woman (Bhatt) who refuses to conform to her chauvinistic fiancée's patriarchal expectations (Dhawan). The New York Times' Rachel Saltz noted the film's feminist message, writing, "Without ever falling into the clichés of spunky Bollywood heroine, [Bhatt] effortlessly embodies that admirable thing: a modern woman." She was nominated for Best Actress again by Filmfare. Raazi (2018), directed by Meghna Gulzar, starred Bhatt as Sehmat Khan, a Kashmiri spy married to a Pakistani army officer. The film is an adaptation of Harinder Sikka's novel Calling Sehmat, which is set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost found Bhatt to be "stupendous" in the role, adding that "the young star once again displaying the maturity and confidence of a veteran on camera". Raazi was one of the highest-grossing female-led Hindi films, and its success led Box Office India to name Bhatt the most successful contemporary Hindi actress. She was named Best Actress again by Filmfare.
Gully Boy and other stories (2019–present)
In early 2019, Bhatt established her own production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions. Her first appearance that year was in Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy, a musical based on the lives of street rappers Divine and Naezy. She took acting classes to learn a ghetto dialect so she could improvise on set. The film received its world premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. Writing for Screen International, Lee Marshall opined that "it's Bhatt's sharp performance that carries most successfully the mix of wry humour, romance and social comment that Gully Boy essays". With over 2.37 billion (US$30 million) in global earnings, the film became Bhatt's highest-grossing release to that point. Gully Boy received a record 13 Filmfare Awards, and Bhatt received her third Best Actress award of her career.
Bhatt's biggest-budget film to that point was the ensemble period drama Kalank (2019). It was set in the 1940s, prior to India's partition, and starred Dhawan and her as star-crossed lovers. She watched the films Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Umrao Jaan (1981) to learn about women's body language at the time, and the Pakistani television series Zindagi Gulzar Hai to improve her Urdu. Shubhra Gupta bemoaned that she was "watchable, if increasingly, exasperatingly familiar". The movie did not do well at the box office. Bhatt then starred in Sadak 2 (2020), a sequel to her father's crime film Sadak (1991), which was unable to be released theatrically in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was instead streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. The death of Sushant Singh Rajput sparked a debate in the Hindi film industry about nepotism; his fans blamed Bhatt for being one of the beneficiaries of nepotism and for once dismissing Rajput on Karan Johar's chat show Koffee with Karan. This prompted a vote brigade on YouTube for the film's trailer, which became the second most disliked video. The film received negative reviews, with Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of The Times of India dismissing Bhatt's performance as "strictly average" by her own high standards.
Bhatt then starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's crime drama Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), which premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival. In preparation, she studied the work of actress Meena Kumari and watched prostitution-themed films such as Mandi (1983) and Memoirs of a Geisha (1989). (2005). Commenting on media speculation that she had been miscast in such an assertive part, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV opined that "the actress puts all doubts to rest with a marvelously lively performance". Additionally, Stutee Ghosh of The Quint commended her for playing the part with a "rare mix of innocence and jaw-clenching seething anger". It became her third release to gross more than 2 billion (US$25 million) worldwide. Her portrayal was included in The Guardian's list of the best big-screen performances of all time.
The same year, Bhatt appeared briefly in the Telugu-language period drama RRR, alongside N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan. It went on to become the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of all time. She then played a victim of domestic abuse in the Netflix black comedy film Darlings, her first production under her company Eternal Sunshine Productions. Namrata Joshi found her to be "perfectly at home in the role of an ordinary Mumbai chawl girl". During its first weekend on Netflix, the film became the most-watched Indian film in the world. Bhatt's final 2022 release was Ayan Mukerji's fantasy film Brahmstra: Part One - Shiva, in which she co-starred with Ranbir Kapoor. The film, the first in a planned trilogy, took five years to make. The film is one of the most expensive Indian films, with a production and marketing budget of around 4 billion rupees (US$50 million). The Wrap's Simon Abrams bemoaned Bhatt's underuse in a poorly written role, and he disliked her chemistry with Kapoor. It grossed 4.31 billion rupees (US$54 million), making it the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022.
Bhatt will next work with Johar on the romantic comedy Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, which also stars Ranveer Singh. Due to her pregnancy, filming and release were pushed back a few months. Bhatt will also co-star with Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan in the Netflix spy thriller Heart of Stone, her first Hollywood film.
Other assignments
Bhatt sang background vocals for the song "Sooha Saaha" in Highway (2014). The film's composer, A. R. Rahman, invited her to his music school for training. In Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, she sang an unplugged version of the song "Samjhawan" for the composers Sharib-Toshi in 2014. In 2016, she and her co-star Diljit Dosanjh performed an alternate version of the song "Ikk Kudi" for the soundtrack of Udta Punjab.
Bhatt has appeared on stage at the Filmfare, Screen, and Stardust award ceremonies, as well as a stage show in Hong Kong with Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. In 2013, she performed at a charity event alongside Dhawan, Malhotra, Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor, and Huma Qureshi to raise funds for Uttarakhand flood victims. In August 2016, she joined Johar, the actors Dhawan, Malhotra, Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra, and the singer Badshah on the "Dream Team 2016" tour in various cities across America.
Bhatt took part in a PETA campaign to raise awareness about homeless animals in 2013. In 2017, she launched the CoExist ecological initiative to raise awareness about the welfare of street animals. The following year, she worked with Facebook Live on a campaign called Find Your Green to promote environmental awareness. Bhatt created her own women's clothing line for the online fashion portal Jabong.com in 2014, and she launched her own line of handbags for VIP Industries in 2018. Edamamma, her own maternity clothing line, debuted in 2022.
Personal life and public persona
Bhatt began dating Ranbir Kapoor, her Brahmstra co-star, in 2018. (2022). She married him in a private ceremony at their Mumbai apartment on 14 April 2022. Raha, their daughter was born in November 2022.
Forbes Asia included Bhatt in their 2017 30 Under 30 list and their 2020 100 Digital Stars list. She has been on Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014, peaking at number eight in 2019. That year, the magazine estimated her annual earnings to be $592 million (US$7.4 million), making her the highest-paid actress in the country.
In 2018 and 2019, the Indian edition of GQ featured her among the nation's 50 most influential young people and credited her for "striking a balance between big-budget, all-star blowouts, and more script-oriented films". Bhatt topped The Times of India's list of the "50 Most Desirable Women" in 2018. The market research firm YouGov named her India's ninth most influential celebrity the same year. Femina magazine has included her in lists of women achievers for 2019 and 2021. She was ranked 97th on The Indian Express' list of the most powerful Indians in 2022. The same year, Time magazine bestowed upon her the TIME100 Impact Award. In 2023, journalist Rajeev Masand named her one of the best actresses in Hindi cinema.
Bhatt is also a brand and product endorser for a number of companies, including Coca-Cola, Garnier, and Maybelline. In 2019, Duff & Phelps estimated her brand value to be US$36.5 million, ranking her eighth among Indian celebrities. She rose to seventh and sixth place in the following two years, before peaking at fourth place in 2022, with a brand value of $68.1 million.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sangharsh | Young Reet Oberoi | As Child Artist |
| 2012 | Student of the Year | Shanaya Singhania | |
| 2014 | Highway | Veera Tripathi | |
| 2 States | Ananya Swaminathan | ||
| Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania | Kavya Pratap Singh | ||
| Ugly | Young Shalini | Cameo appearance | |
| Going Home | Herself | Short film | |
| 2015 | Shaandaar | Alia Arora | |
| 2016 | Kapoor & Sons | Tia Malik | |
| Udta Punjab | Bauria/Mary Jane | ||
| Ae Dil Hai Mushkil | DJ | Cameo appearance | |
| Dear Zindagi | Kaira | ||
| 2017 | Badrinath Ki Dulhania | Vaidehi Trivedi | |
| 2018 | Welcome to New York | Herself | Cameo appearance |
| Raazi | Sehmat Khan | ||
| Zero | Herself | Cameo appearance | |
| 2019 | Gully Boy | Safeena Firdausi | |
| Kalank | Roop Chaudhry | ||
| Student of the Year 2 | Herself | Special appearance in song "The Hook Up Song" | |
| 2020 | Sadak 2 | Aarya Desai | |
| 2022 | Gangubai Kathiawadi | Gangubai Kathiawadi | |
| RRR | Sita | Telugu film | |
| Darlings | Badru Qureshi | Also producer | |
| Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva | Isha Chatterjee | ||
| 2023 | Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani | Rani | Filming |
| Heart of Stone | Keya Dhawan | English film; post-production |
| Year | Title | Performer |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | "Prada" | The Doorbeen (featuring Shreya Sharma) |
| "Smile Deke Dekho" | Amit Trivedi feat. Sunidhi Chauhan, Nakash Aziz | |
| 2020 | "Kudi Nu Nachne De" | Vishal Dadlani, Sachin–Jigar |
| Year | Track | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Sooha Saha" | Highway |
| "Samjhawan Unplugged" | Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania | |
| 2016 | "Ikk Kudi (Club Mix)" | Udta Punjab |
| "Love You Zindagi (Club Mix)" | Dear Zindagi | |
| "Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le – 2" | ||
| 2017 | "Humsafar (Alia's version)" | Badrinath Ki Dulhania |
| 2020 | "Tum se hi (Reprise)" | Sadak 2 |
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Aloo |
| Profession | Actress |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 160 cm in meters- 1.60 m in feet inches- 5’ 3” |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 55 kg in pounds- 121 lbs |
| Figure Measurements (approx.) | 33-26-34 |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Light Brown |
| Career | |
| Debut | Film (Child Artist): Sangharsh (1999) Film (Lead Role): Student of the Year (2012) (Film) (Playback Singer): "Sooha Saha" from Highway (2014) Film (Producer): Darlings (2022) |
| Awards | In October 2022, she became one of the recipients of the Time100 Impact Awards. The award has been initiated by Time Magazine annually for achievers from different walks of life. |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 15 March 1993 |
| Age (as of 2022) | 29 Years |
| Birthplace | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Zodiac sign | Pisces |
| Nationality | British |
| Hometown | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| School | Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai |
| College/University | Did Not Attend |
| Educational Qualification | High School |
| Religion | Atheist |
| Caste/Ethnicity | Gujarati (father-side); Kashmiri & German (mother-side) |
| Food Habit | Vegetarian (turned vegetarian in 2015) |
| Address | 205, Silver Beach Apartments, B Wing, A. B. Nair Road, Next To Guestline Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Hobbies | Singing, Listening to Music, Doing Yoga, Travelling, Cooking, Playing the Piano |
| Likes & Dislikes | Likes: Smelling her fingers, Studying (while lying down), Playing Handball, Sleeping for 12-14 hours continuously Dislikes: Eating hot food and beverages |
| Awards, Honours, Achievements | 2013: Best Female Debut for Student of the Year by Times of India Film Awards 2015: Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for Highway 2017: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Udta Punjab 2017: Listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia |
| Tattoo | Written "Pataka" in Hindi on the backside of her neck |
| Boys, Affairs, and More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Marriage Date | 14 April 2022 |
| Marriage Place | Vastu Building in Mumbai |
| Family | |
| Husband/Spouse | Ranbir Kapoor |
| Children | On 6 November 2022, she gave birth to her first child, a baby girl. Later, the actress announced that they have named her Raha; the name was chosen by Neetu Singh. |
| Parents | Father- Mahesh Bhatt (Director, Producer, Screenwriter) Mother- Soni Razdan (Actress, Director) |
| Siblings | Brother- Rahul Bhatt (step-brother; a fitness trainer) Sister(s)- • Pooja Bhatt (half-sister) • Shaheen Bhatt (Elder) |
| Cousin(s) | Emraan Hashmi and Mohit Suri (both are her maternal cousins) |
| Favorites | |
| Food | French Fries, Rasgulla, Dahi-Chawal, Moong Dal Halwa |
| Actor(s) | Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Govinda Hollywood: Leonardo DiCaprio |
| Actress(es) | Bollywood: Kareena Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut Hollywood: Jennifer Lawrence |
| Film | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) |
| Musician | A. R. Rahman |
| Filmmakers | Sooraj Barjatya, Karan Johar |
| Colour | Red |
| Fashion Label(s) | Topshop and River Island |
| Perfume/Scent | Bleu de Chanel (she likes mens' fragrances) |
| Restaurant | Ellipsis in Mumbai |
| Book | The Fault In Our Stars by John Green |
| Song | "Money On My Mind" by Sam Smith |
| Pet | Cats |
| Destination(s) | Himachal Pradesh, London |
| Number | 8 |
| Style Quotient | |
| Car(s) Collection | • Land Rover Range Rover Vogue • Audi Q7 • Audi Q5 • Audi A6 • BMW 7-Series |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Alia Bhatt
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