Alia Bhatt narrated her first instance of meeting Karan Johar for her debut film Student Of The Year.
Alia Bhatt made her acting debut in Bollywood with the 2012 film Student of the Year, directed by Karan Johar. In the film, the actress plays the role of Shanaya, a rich, shopping-loving girl who is not the sharpest but deeply values her relationships in life. Since then, she has played a variety of diverse characters, leaving the audience in awe of her acting prowess. But being her first, that film remains close to her heart. Hence, in a recent interview, Alia Bhatt recalled her first meeting with Karan Johar.
At the Red Sea Film Festival 2023, Alia Bhatt traced her acting journey right from her small role in Tanuja Chandra’s Sangharsh to meeting Karan Johar for Student Of The Year, the actress shared that while her mother Soni Razdan was a bit hesitant of her decision to act at such a young age, father Mahesh Bhatt didn’t leave any stone unturned to show his support. She shared, “Years later], I got called in to meet Karan Johar for Student Of The Year while I was still in school. I was in the 11th grade, literally going from school, so I was in my uniform. I was much ‘healthier’ and enjoyed eating french fries more at that time. I thought, ‘I look great… there’s nothing wrong.’ So, I walked into his office, and he said I was charming in person and asked me to do an audition. I didn’t know what an audition was, but I went in, gave the audition, and the rest is history.”
She further shared another instance from the same film, when she was shooting for a song,
“I remember the first day of the shoot was when we were filming for the song ‘Radha Teri Chunri,’ and I had to walk down some stairs, take the dupatta off, and look into the camera. Farah Khan was the choreographer, and I did the shot. She said, ‘Oh, heroine!’ I thought there were 15 cameras that would just keep rolling at the same time, and because I was rehearsing the song for one month, I thought I needed to perform the song like how we do on a stage and they shoot it. I didn’t know that we had to wait and do shot-by-shot.”
She further added, “It took seven days to shoot that song, and in the middle, I sprained my leg and hurt my back. It was daunting and scary, as from day one of the shoot, Yash Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, and Rishi Kapoor were all present on set to congratulate us, as we three were newcomers. So, we were very nervous, given the presence of so many stalwarts in the room. But I think from that moment on, I realized that I am my most present self in front of the camera.”
Meanwhile, the National Award-winning actress is currently shooting for her upcoming film Jigra. Alia is not just playing the lead in the film but is also co-producing it with Karan Johar. The film is directed by Vasan Bala of Monica, O My Darling fame. She is also rumoured to be collaborating with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Baiju Bawra.