Alia Bhatt on Darlings: ‘Just like my food, I want my films to be flavourful and different’

In conversation with Alia Bhatt on _Darlings_, preparation for her role, on becoming a producer and how it’s a great time for actors and directors to bring to life stories that are closer to life and not larger than life.

Excerpts from the interview:

How was the experience of doing a dark comedy like Darlings?

The preparation for the role I don’t do as per genre, but as per the film’s requirements. For me, it was picking up that very authentic sort of lingo which is pertaining to this area where they are staying in Byculla, Mumbai which is a mixture of Urdu, English, Hindi and Marathi which is written very beautifully and effortlessly in our dialogues. The real preparation actually happens for me in my characters which I generally do all in my head. The outcome of it happens in front of the camera. I don’t do any real preparation before the shoots.

On producing the Darlings…

When I heard the script I realised it is going to be a great film and I decided to produce the films I felt it is a great time to start producing the films where I play a very important character. Darlings is a surprising film and you will love it when you see how the genre shifted very quickly. Darlings is very dear to me because it made me feel that as a producer I want to tell these kind of stories.

There is no black or white character, but it’s all grey. How the roles of villains are changing?

Humans are definitely not one colour or shade and that exactly we are trying to do it through our campaign which is a little ambiguous for you to decide that who is the bicchu (scorpion) in the story and I think that is something that we want the audience to actually play with and understand. And grey is a nice shade for every character. And the characters show why they became what they became, maybe it’s lack of love, maybe it’s lack of attention. And at the end of the day, it is about layering the roles which makes the characters interesting. Villain doesn’t go out thinking that they are villain. He thinks he is right, it is up to the audience to think whether a character is black, white or grey.

Cinema is changing. Is it a great time for actors?

There has always been a variety of stories in Indian cinema. But there is a way of telling those simple stories or real stories which is common on OTT. Whereas when you are going to theaters you want to watch something that is larger than life which is an entertainer. Watching regular films in theaters may limit people’s minds a lot. On OTT you are not pressured about a box office collection. You are giving it a library or shelf to sit on and the film will sit there and can be enjoyed and watched at whatever time the audience feels like watching. That way it is not only a great time for actors, but a great time for directors to bring to life stories that are realistic. You can play with genres and play with stories and characters. You don’t need to stick to the norm of good versus bad or the hero-heroine kind of stories.

On being offered a variety of roles…

I am happy that these roles are offered to me where I can play different characters. And they are not boxing me. Rather the box has been offered to me and I am jumping into it. I am actually doing justice to the roles offered to me. Just the way I choose my food, I choose my films in the same way. I need a little bit of flavour and I want it to be different and it needs to taste good.

On women’s roles changing…

We gave the world ‘ _Mother India’_ and my father for example wrote a powerful role for Shabana Azmi in _Arth_. I think in the age of talking and free expression it started changing and our outlook towards cinema also changed. Now it is not just third or fourth film, but every film has strong women characters. Like Shefali Shah lead a super show and won so many international awards. I kept telling everybody look how amazing the content of _Delhi Crime_ was and how well she performed in it.

How motherhood will change your life?

I guess time will tell. I don’t think you can perceive or prepare yourself for that. There is no change which is as big and beautiful as motherhood. In my opinion, nothing must change in my professional life. What will change is that after work, I may not hang around and party with my friends. Right after work, I would like to rush back home to spend time with my family.

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