Alia Bhatt has stamped her authority as an actor in last 10 years in Bollywood. She has played characters with different shades and pulled them off with elegance. He latest film Gangubai Kathiawadi is set to release on February 25, 2022.
She discussed her role, challenges and experiences while shooting for the film in a chat with Puja Talwar. Here are the highlights of the interview –
Ranbir gave me the confidence to play Gangubai
I didn’t have to explain anything to Ranbir. He would just understand and say the right things because he has been to that experience. I am grateful that he didn’t need my attention while I was shooting for the film. He knew that my attention is totally on the film.
The whole experience of playing Gangubai
There was limited information that we had on Gangubai, just a chapter on the book was all that I had to refer to. To join the dots, I sat with the writer and figured out the kind of personality that she was…and that was the creative journey. The preparation was there in the writing and then we went through the personality on the set. I just prepared for the linguistic approach and that’s all I did beyond the set in terms of the preparation. There were days when I thought if I would be able to deliver but ultimately I did deliver.
Watch the full interview here –
He circumstances gave her that anger, unpredictability and that is what made the whole experience so wholesome. She made herself the god of all the girls in Kamathipura and that was the biggest challenger – to do justice to that character. She was tiny, like ‘chota packet, bada dhamaka’ but very hard on the inside. She drove a Bentley during that time so you can imagine the kind of character, the personality that she was during that era.
Working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali
It was very satisfying because we used to come to set, he used to discuss scenes and take inputs from all the people involved. Sometimes, some suggestions were taken and sometimes they were not taken but we had a blast. Everything was everybody’s job and that is one of the things that I take away as an experience. Teaming up with him was a blockbuster experience.
I feel very happy that we have this mutual comfort with each other.
10 years in Bollywood
I think I give myself a lot of love for having the same sparkle in my eyes and enthusiasm for work.
It’s a constant journey
I am always very imaginative, sometimes very detached from personality, very dreamy, and that gives me the confidence to play different characters with different shades.
I believe in doing the roles which I would have liked as an audience. I am not always ‘Chulbuli’ – contrary to popular belief. I know I have to be extremely hardworking, alert and aware and prepared to make mistakes and learn from them and evolve constantly.
