Varun calls me a legend, says Alia Bhatt

Can a Bhatt girl ever be at home in a Karan Johar film? It is the first question to cross one’s mind on learning that Alia Bhatt, the heroine of KJo’s next The Student of the Year (SOTY), is Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter.  But a preview of three song-n-dance sequences later, and you have your answer. Not only does the newcomer bridge two schools of filmmaking, but makes you sit up and take notice of a true-blue Hindi film heroine — at ease with the hip world of the youth as well as the desi jhatkas. For a Bhatt girl, that is quite a leap!

“Maybe I’m not a Bhatt,” quips the pretty newcomer, the resemblance to her mother Soni Razdan unmistakable. “But seriously, I enjoy dancing. I attended Shiamak Davar’s dance classes, trained in Bharatnatyam for two years. So, it’s not entirely new to me,” says Alia, adding that one of the songs Radha caught the attention of an international glamour magazine, and landed the actor her first cover.

Among the many things that the 19-year-old was clear about was that she always ‘wanted to act’ and that she ‘never wanted to be launched by my father’. “If a doctor’s son wants to be a doctor, he’s sent to a medical school to study. In the same way, I want to go out and study acting for myself. If I had started off with my father’s film, it would’ve all been too easy,” says Alia, who had her first brush with acting as a child actor in Sangharsh, where she played the younger Preity Zinta.

It was through a friend, writer Niranjan Iyengar, that Alia learnt about the auditions for SOTY. From the 500 girls that auditioned for the film, she found herself among the 10 girls that were finally shortlisted. Weighing 67 kgs then, she lost 16 kgs in three months with diet  and exercise, and was ready for the film. The newbie is clear that she’s in it for the long haul. “I don’t want to be a one-film wonder. Or be relaunched again by anyone. Film business is a serious business, it’s like a race and I’m ready to work hard,” she says.

Alia, who lists Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Deepika Padukone as her favourites, has loved Ranbir Kapoor right from his Saawariya days, relates to Imtiaz Ali’s films, and hopes to work with all the Khans one day. Right now, she is feeling ‘curious, nervous excited, and sad’ as days to her film’s release come closer.  “It’s the entire letting go of a film that’s hitting me right now,” she says of memories that include finding a mentor in KJo, missing an opportunity to share screen space with Kajol and her co-stars,Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra. “They are special boys. And I know they’re going to make it big. Varun calls me a legend. He knows that I like to be pampered,” she recalls.   

So, is it true that she recently auditioned for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Two States? “No... no comments,” dimples Alia, eyes twinkling!