Happy Birthday, Alia Bhatt: A look at how she has evolved as an actor through her movies

Alia Bhatt, daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actor Soni Razdan, made her debut as a lead actor in Karan Johar’s teen drama ‘Student of the Year’ (2012). She was only 19 when she signed her first film, co-starring Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. Two years after her first movie, she starred in Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Highway’ as a child abuse survivor who develops a relationship with her kidnapper.

Alia then did two commercial Hindi films consecutively, ‘2 States’ and ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, where she played a cute and sassy girl-next-door.

In 2016, she appeared in Abhishek Chaubey’s critically acclaimed film ‘Udta Punjab’ as a Bihari migrant in Punjab, who had once aspired to become a national-level hockey player. Her character was shown to be a victim of sexual violence. The film also starred Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, and Diljit Dosanjh, but Alia earned the maximum accolades for her performance.

The same year, she was seen in Gauri Shinde’s ‘Dear Zindagi’ where she played a young woman struggling with a mental health issue.

Following this, Alia Bhatt was seen in ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, ‘Raazi’, ‘Gully Boy’, and ‘Kalank’.

She played her role with courage, conviction, and vulnerability in ‘Raazi’ and ‘Gully Boy’, an indication of her growth as an artist.

In 2020, she starred in her father-filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s forgettable film ‘Sadak 2’. However, two years later, Alia proved herself as an actor once again with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ where she played a young woman who is duped and sold to a brothel by her lover. She then takes control of the dark world utilising her underworld connections.

In 2022, Alia was also seen Ayan Mukerji’s ‘Brahmastra’ alongside her husband, actor Ranbir Kapoor. She also made her debut as a producer with the Netflix film ‘Darlings’, a film which focused on domestic violence.

Alia Bhatt’s ten-year journey in the industry has seen an upward trend. She is now set to promote her debut Hollywood movie, ‘Heart of Stone’, alongside Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan.

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