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Alia Bhatt is no stranger to the Red Sea International Film Festival, this being her second visit in two years. The last time I was here, Raha was one and now she is three, says Alia, sounding like most mothers do when thinking of life before and after children, marking their presence and the changes they bring. “Now Raha has her own relationship with the paparazzi, and is old enough to ask me where I am going, and when I will be back,” she says.
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Raha comes up frequently in the hour-long conversation, as does the word “authenticity”, which she uses when speaking of her choices. No one knows how the audience will react, but what they do respond to is authenticity, she says, and that’s something she looks for in the kinds of roles she does.
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The conversation touches upon the salient points of where Alia is at right now, at the cusp of stardom and motherhood, the projects she is producing, along with being the face of global brands. It’s all beautifully chaotic, she says, of her red carpet experiences in Cannes and the Met Gala etc, and the best part is all about relaxing with pyjamas and pizza— did she really say pizza, are these sylph-like things allowed such calorie-dense things— after the event is over.
“When I was young,” she stops and corrects herself with a laugh, “I’m still young, but when I was in my 20s, I was all over the place, trying to do everything. At 17,18, I was way more enthusiastic and full of beans, and trying very hard, because that’s normal. And now, more than a decade later, the way you look at a situation changes. I’m still enthusiastic and full of beans, but the approach is more silent, it comes with a little more intent. Part of me wants to hold on to the girl at 18 who was brave and fearless, who had no idea of how things would pan out, who had no answers, who would enter a room and give it her all. I think now with success, with failure, with knowing, sometimes you tend to become a little more tentative.”
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“No matter what will happen in the future,” she says, “I would like to stay curious, because that’s the only way to grow.” Responding to whether she feels the weight of what she represents on the global stage, she says it’s more a sense of pride, of being Indian.
And dodges, smartly, a question from a Pakistani fan asking when she will visit, saying that she’s happy to go anywhere that work takes her. She takes a fan question on ‘nepotism’ by talking about talent whether you come from a film family or not, and when the audience sees you “bringing something to the table, sab kuch maaf hai”. This writer has noticed her dexterity in dodging uncomfortable questions in live interactions in the past, and these days, when anything a star says is up for intense scrutiny, this is a superpower too.
In a rapid fire round, she chooses Highway and Gangubai as the roles that stayed with her longest. Clearly, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is top of mind recall, with ‘Love and War’, in which she stars with Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal, coming out early 2026.
Micro-managing everything is also one of her things, she says, “I even planned my wedding and I had so much fun doing it that I’m thinking this could be a second career.” And the audience breaks into a laugh, all waiting for their chance at a selfie.
