10 years of Alia Bhatt: Celebrating Bollywood’s newest Midas

2012 was a curious year for the Hindi film industry. Seven actors made their big-screen debut—Arjun Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana, Huma Qureshi, Diana Penty, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, and Siddharth Malhotra. The careers of five others got much-needed, long-awaited breakthroughs— Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi!), Deepika Padukone (Cocktail), Irrfan Khan (Paan Singh Tomar), Vidya Balan (Kahaani), and Sridevi (English Vinglish). Two old classics, Bol Bachchan and Agneepath, were remade, and a legendary director—Yash Chopra—made his last film, marking the end of an era. In such a busy year, it would have been difficult for any newcomer to attract sustained attention but thanks to the relentless promotions so characteristic of Dharma Productions, Karan Johar’s sharp ear for music, and undying love for frills and thrills, Alia Bhatt’s Shayana captured public consciousness in a way no one had in recent memory. In a Poo-starved country, she was the latest iteration, and a good one too. But other than this, no one made much of her. She was just another nepo-kid comfortably cushioned by connections with a godfather who was a star-maker. What could possibly go wrong with someone this sheltered? Turns out, heaps. Soon, the fatal Prithviraj Chauhan fiasco happened on Koffee with Karan. Then Shaandaar, Kalank, and Sadak 2. [caption id=“attachment_11475661” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Koffee with Karan[/caption] But instead of major setbacks, these turned out to be minor speedbumps on a singular, trailblazing journey. Today, 10 years after her debut in Student of the Year, Alia Bhatt stands tall, peerless, and invincible. Even the biggest critics of nepotism that cry hoarse and foul, fall silent in front of her towering talent. Every actor’s filmography usually has pivotal points, landmark films that reflect a shift of sensibility or a break in pattern, or a spurt of growth. But Bhatt’s is arguably the only one that’s as unpredictable as it is consistent. She got all dolled up in SOTY only to shatter its manicured and airbrushed world with her next outing—Imtiaz Ali’s raw, earthy, and poignant Highway. She follows it up with a series of romances (2 States, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Kapoor & Sons), and then, just when you get a little snug with her cutesy girl-next-door roles, she does an Udta Punjab. It’s as if she tasted blood with the Abhishek Chaubey directorial and ever since, has been on a quest for the kill. Films like Dear Zindagi, Raazi, and Gully Boy followed, each remarkably different from the other, and yet, just as memorable. As much as all of us may want to celebrate Bhatt’s tenth year in the movies, she is doing it harder and so much better than any of us could have possibly imagined. 2022 has been a helluva year for her both professionally and personally. Earlier in April, she got married to her longtime beau Ranbir Kapoor in an intimate ceremony at their Bandra residence. Even before the furor around her wedding could subside, she announced her pregnancy. But that didn’t change a thing, other than bringing tons of cheer and happiness. Bhatt has worked like a clock through her pregnancy, including promoting two of her four movies that released this year—Jasmeet K Reen’s Darlings (which she co-produced) and Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra: Part One—Shiva, and shooting alongside Gal Gadot for her first Hollywood project, Heart of Stone, an action-packed, high-on-adrenalin film slated to be out next year. [caption id=“attachment_11475711” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Brahmastra[/caption] 2022 also gave her Gangubai Kathiawadi—a film that redefined all that could be achieved if you pair the subliminal vision of a director as exhaustive and exquisite as Sanjay Leela Bhansali with the pristine prowess and the sheer power of portrayal of an actor like Alia Bhatt. Gangubai Kathiawadi is poetry on celluloid. Every frame, each costume, the music, the dialogues, all flow, turbulent and tragic, like the inside of Gangu. [caption id=“attachment_11475731” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Gangubai Kathiawadi[/caption] Meanwhile, on the business front, Bhatt turned producer and launched her own banner, Eternal Sunshine Productions, with the release of Darlings. Much recently, she has also expanded her clothing brand for children, Ed-a-Mamma, to include maternity wear. Bhatt’s recent business decisions seem to echo Anushka Sharma’s from a few years ago. She, too, had started her production house, Clean Slate Filmz, and Nush, her own brand of clothing. But after her daughter Vamika’s birth, she distanced herself from both ventures. I hope Bhatt doesn’t; that she continues to be as active, hopeful, and blissfully prolific as she is right now. Bhatt is Bollywood’s newest Midas. All that she touches, she turns to gold. The most recent recipient of the Smita Patil Memorial Award, she has also bagged TIME100 Impact Award. Too good, too soon, Shah Rukh Khan once said of her. Too good, without a sliver of a doubt. Too soon? Not really. She’s been long in the making. And we? We’d been waiting for even longer. When not reading books or watching films, Sneha Bengani writes about them. She tweets at @benganiwrites. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.