Alia Bhatt is gearing up for the release of Darlings, her maiden production, the trailer of which was launched in Mumbai today. “I am really excited and nervous as Darlings is my first film as a producer,” said Alia Bhatt at the trailer launch of the film which also features Shefali Shah, Vijay Verma and Roshan Matthews.
The dark comedy film, which will release on Netflix, is co-produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies and the Gangubai Kathiawadi actor’s production house Eternal Sunshine Productions.
Bhatt mentioned that the idea of turning producer was an organic decision. “When I met Jasmeet (Reen, the director) in 2019, I had a packed schedule. But I have a habit of taking a narration because you never know where a good script can come from. The narration started and it was pretty normal and suddenly it shifted gears. I was right at the edge of the seat and it is rare that I get surprised with a script but it happened with Darlings. Very naturally I got a thought that I would like to be a producer on this as well. Gaurav (Verma, COO, Red Chillies) was extremely supportive and he said it was a fantastic idea,” she said.
Bhatt added that his Dear Zindagi co-star was very supportive of her decision. “Shah Rukh called and said that I generally don’t co-produce films but I’ll do it with you as an exception. He said that we will have a lot of fun and enjoy shooting the film. He recently saw the film and in typical Darlings style he messaged, ‘Thanks you Darlings for doing this films.’”
The actor’s father Mahesh Bhatt has been a prolific filmmaker who has given some big hits and is known for some unconventional choices as a producer as well as a director. When she was asked whether this reflects on her turning producer with a dark comedy, Alia said, “Maybe it is in my upbringing to go for something brave or something different. It is said that as an actor your first film chooses you, it was the same case for me as a producer. So it wasn’t that I decided to take this brave decision to turn producer and then I went searching for a script like Darlings. It was a brave and exciting script and I am extremely glad to be a part of it.”
In a recent interview, her husband and actor Ranbir Kapoor mentioned that he would like to direct a film and would like her to produce it. Reacting to it, the Bhramastra actor said, “We did discuss it in fact. I actually told him that if you don’t make me produce it, I’ll be very upset! I told him if you don’t want to take me as an actor, that’s totally fine, he told me, ‘No no I need you, you’re a tyrant’, as a joke. I’m a creative producer so I’ll give my creative inputs at the writing stage and produce it.”
