Happy birthday Alia: Five outstanding performances by Alia Bhatt

Ali Bhatt in and as Gangubai Kathiawadi.

When Alia Bhatt first burst onto the screen with Karan Johar’s Student of the Year in 2012, expectations were low from Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter, with Johar being accused of nepotism for casting her. However, the actress has gone on to prove naysayers wrong with knockout performances over the years. Here are a few films in which Bhatt shone like the true gem that she is:

Udta Punjab (2016)

For someone who had mostly played the modern, urban girl on-screen so far, it was hard to imagine Bhatt in any other way, but in Abhishek Chaubey’s hard-hitting and gritty film Udta Punjab on substance abuse, the Kapoor & Sons actress surprised everyone with her performance as a Bihari immigrant labourer. Not only did she look the part, Bhatt also nailed the Bihari dialect and went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for playing a victim of drug abuse in the crime drama.

Alia Bhatt in Udta Punjab.

Raazi (2018)

Based on the book Calling Sehmat, Raazi saw Bhatt playing the role of an undercover spy named Sehmat. Set against the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the role required a certain maturity from the actress and Bhatt managed to get under the skin of her character. The actress received critical acclaim for her role as a Kashmiri spy married to a Pakistani army officer and received yet another Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Alia Bhatt in Raazi.

Gully Boy (2019)

Although Bhatt did not have as much screen time here compared to the male lead played by Ranveer Singh, she delivered a knock-out performance as the volatile and passionate Sakina. Her performance was noted to be the right mix of “wry humour, romance and social comment” required for a film such as this.

Alia Bhatt in Gully Boy

Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)

Bhatt had been going from strength to strength in her films but she was yet to play the titular role and shoulder the responsibility of leading one. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi changed that. Playing a young girl forced into prostitution, Bhatt is vulnerable and innocent and gives a heartbreaking performance which sees her mature into a worldly-wise woman fighting for the rights of sex workers and their children. Her performance won her a National Film Award for Best Actress.

Darlings (2023)

Her first venture as a producer, Darlings was a black comedy which showed Bhatt as a woman from a Mumbai chawl who is a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her alcoholic husband. The perfect mix of black humour and social commentary was a hit with the audience and the audience loved the chemistry between on-screen mother and daughter played by Shefali Shah and Bhatt.

Alia Bhatt in Darlings