"I had decided to become an actress when I was much younger,” says Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt has quickly turned popular after her successful debut in Karan Johar’s latest release titled Student of the Year. She starred in the film’s lead alongside two more debutants, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, both of who vie for her attention in this campus romance. The 19-year-old is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan and hails from a strong filmy background, with Pooja Bhatt for an elder sister.

However, being young and a fresher hasn’t kept Alia Bhatt from proving her worth in front of the cameras. "There are actresses who started working at a very young age. Like my sister (Pooja Bhatt) started working when she was 17. So age doesn't matter," says Alia. "I had decided to become an actress when I was much younger. It was a conscious decision. I just didn't know it would happen as soon as I finish my college".

Being from one of the most illustrious families in B-town didn’t keep Alia from choosing to launch her career with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions instead. “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.

That apart, Alia wasn’t handpicked for this Karan Johar directorial venture. Instead, the pretty young actress was required to audition for the film to prove her knack for the big screen. "I had decided that I would not start off with my father's production only because it's an easier option. For this film, I had to work for it, like lose weight, prove myself, etc. There were around 500 girls who had given the auditions along with me."

Alia Bhatt learns Bharatanatyam for her next film, 2 States

The 19-year-old daughter of the filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has been constantly in the news off-late, grabbing headlines after the release of her debut in Student of the Year. The youngster played a rich girl who also happens to be the most gorgeous girl on campus in the film and starred in the lead alongside newcomers Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. It’s been months since the film released but that surely hasn’t turned the limelight away from Alia. The actress has gone on to sign her next film, also produced by Karan Johar. The Dharma Productions chief directed and produced Student of the Year. The upcoming film will be a film adaptation of the bestselling book by author Chetan Bhagat titled 2 States.

In the upcoming film, Alia Bhatt will play the role of a South Indian girl. To fit into her role perfectly well, just the way she did in Student of the Year, the ever-diligent has taken up dance classes. Unlike her debut however, Alia will not be seen dancing to thumping club beats. Instead, the actress will dance to more traditional Indian tunes in the film and is learning the Bharatanatyam form. Alia is looking forward to perfect her role in the film and is leaving no stone unturned to polish her character to perfection.

In the film, Alia will star in the lead alongside Arjun Kapoor of Ishaqzaade fame. The film revolves around the romantic tale of a north Indian Punjabi boy who falls in love with a south Indian Iyengar girl. 2 States is a co-production by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions banner and producer Sajid Nadiadwala.

"Alia never liked me earlier because I didn't say,” says Varun Dhawan!

Acting in a film isn’t easy, particularly when you’re a newcomer and cast alongside two more debutants! Usually, having a seasoned actor act with you proves to be a boon. However, Karan Johar’s students, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt seemed to have no qualms starring in the lead, even though they were fresh and new! Well, that does speak volumes about the trio’s skills and Karan Johar’s mentoring skills. The film, obviously, was a hit and grabbed a load of attention, giving this trio a perfect stepping stone to success.
Now, while Alia, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun seemed to be perfectly at ease together on-screen, the youngsters didn’t really gel that well in reality at first. While Siddharth Malhotra and Varun hit it off instantly, given the fact that the two had worked together as Assistant Directors for the film My Name is Khan, Alia took longer to bond with the guys, particularly Varun. "Alia never liked me earlier because I didn't say, 'Hi' to her on the first day. But that is because I was giving my look test and didn't see her. She was angry with me in the first one week, but then it got okay," says Varun Dhawan, the son of the filmmaker David Dhawan.

“I did not give her any attitude because we had to work together. She feels we are very good friends, but I feel that we are okay friends. We bonded on that fact that we were young on the set and didn't understand much," adds Varun. Alia Bhatt will next be seen in the film adaptation of Two States while Siddharth Malhotra will star in Hasee Toh Phasee. Varun on the other hand will make an appearance in his father’s directorial venture, Mein Tera Hero.

Karan Johar found directing newcomers to be a challenging task

Karan Johar stepped away from his usual filmmaking rituals for his latest release, Student of the Year. For one, this was his shortest movie. A director known for rolling out particularly long sagas, Karan chose to keep Student of the Year short. Apart from that, the film was Karan’s first directorial venture without his close friend and lucky charm, Shah Rukh Khan, in the lead. Instead, Karan chose to settle for three newcomers to grace the lead. Obviously, given the fact that this was Karan’s first without seasoned actors, the film was indeed a challenge for the director.

“You Know I think I was more stressed out than them, because you have to deconstruct your own ways of directing. You kind of get into a pattern with movie stars specially with Shah Rukh, and I think I got into a pattern as a director directing him and other movie stars, so I had to kind of deconstruct my own thought process. I found myself giving them really archaic instructions – telling them things like the way Shah Rukh may have done it, over instructing them, giving them stardom instructions and bringing them into your movie frame.”

The film’s lead, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have indeed managed to charm audiences with their debut and have pulled off their respective roles exceptionally well. “Sometimes you need to let people be, which what I was not doing in my first 20 days of work. I was behaving like a really prehistoric, dated and been there done that kind of filmmaker (chuckles). Then I realized that if I am launching new talent I have to leverage from their roughness, their rawness and I shouldn’t over instruct them. Eventually it became fun because I kind of began feeding off their energy,” added Karan Johar.

Karan Johar’s film Student of the Year released on the 19th of October, 2012. This campus romance was proclaimed a blockbuster and received rave reviews.

Student of the Year’s Alia Bhatt “will have to not take this success lightly”!

Alia Bhatt

“Getting love from fans and their appreciation, nonetheless, brings a different kind of a feeling in the actor within me. All I know is that I will have to not take this success lightly but try to put in all my sincere efforts in the right directions, in order maintain this success hereafter”, says newcomer Alia Bhatt who has recently made her big-screen debut with the film Student of the Year. Starring alongside Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan in the lead, the 19-year-old has left the audiences impressed and awestruck with her look in the film and her performance as a campus sweetheart.

"I'd never imagined that I'd get to do my first film with Karan Johar-it was a big deal for me! And even though he didn't have a big name in his movie, he never compromised on the film...he went all out and made it like he would make it with other stars. Karan put in a lot of faith in all of us and that made us feel confident about ourselves", says Alia Bhatt, praising her director-mentor Karan Johar.

The young actor plays the role of Shanaya Singhania in the film while Varun Dhawan plays her boyfriend, Rohan Nanda. Siddharth Malhotra plays the new kid at school, Abhimanyu Singh, who manages to gain Shanaya’s attention and affections, causing a love triangle. Unlike her on-screen character however, Alia isn’t the typical spoiled brat with a filmy background. "I'll be kicked out of the house if I expect any celebrity treatment. I'm not a celebrity at all. I'm just an actor and performer. A celebrity and a star is what the audience makes you. At home, I'm just the youngest person in this house, and that's what I'm treated like."

Besides the newcomer trio, veteran actor Rishi Kapoor also stars in this film. Rishi has donned an unconventional role of a gay school dean in this film who organizes the annual Student of the Year competition that forms the basis of this campus romance.