Success, stardom and adulation can be a heady cocktail. Ask Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, who features in this weekend’s romantic comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.
Three movies down and the daughter of prolific producer-director Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, who got a stellar start in Bollywood, has been drinking liberally from that fountain.
“But what makes me pleased is that she is not the first member of her own fan club,” said Mahesh over the phone from Mumbai. There’s a proud dad in that pronouncement. But he believes that he has acted as a leveller of sorts in an industry that has a tendency to amplify adulation.
“I keep [telling] her, ‘a person who has tasted success should be treated like a man who has gone through a bomb blast. You are in a state of shock and need to be treated like a patient because you lose your sense of perspective’,” said Bhatt.
It’s a morbid allegory but it seems to have served the purpose because his 21-year-old daughter comes across as the most sorted rising star. She made her debut in 2012 with Karan Johar’s glossy Student Of The Year in which she played the incredibly stylish Shanaiya.
But it was director Imtiaz Ali’s Highway, in which she played a troubled teenager with Stockholm Syndrome (a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy towards their captors), that made her fans sit up and take notice of her acting muscle. She refuelled her career account with 2 States, another hit in which she played a confident Tamil woman who falls love with a man outside her caste and clan.
“But seriously, I don’t feel like a rockstar, you just get noticed much more now, which is interesting. I am observing it as it grows. I try not to take this fame too seriously and I try not to get carried away by all the praise,” said Alia.
Right now, she’s focused on keeping her head down and powering through her roles. In her upcoming romantic comedy directed by newcomer Shashank Khaitan, she plays the young Punjabi Kavya Pratap Singh.
“Humpty Sharma… is a rugged love story set in India’s heartland. Kavya is in her twenties and she doesn’t have any ambition per se. She has a nice family, nice house and a good amount of money. She doesn’t have many aspirations but she has just one dream: she wants to marry like Kareena Kapoor in a Manish Malhtora lehenga,” said Alia.
Among Indian brides, couturier Malhtora is what Vera Wang is to the West. It’s aspirational and wearing his outfits is a fool-proof way to dazzle on the big day. It’s a symbol that you have arrived in style. Plus, Bollywood fans’ love affair with Punjabi heroines are legendary. They embraced Simran (Kajol) in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Geet (Kareena Kapoor) in Jab We Met fiercely. As rule of thumb, these women are uncomplicated, talk fast and have never been introduced to the colour black. Kavya is no different.
“They don’t care about what you think of them, they wear their hearts on their sleeves. Kavya thinks and acts out loud. She thinks all her opinions are the world’s most important opinions. I even have a tattoo of a firework display in the nape of my neck,” said Alia.
On paper, these characters may sound like the proverbial pain in the neck, but history has shown us how gorgeous actresses can inject soul into such characters.
Ask her if she would befriend a person like Kavya in her life and Alia says: “I would find her soul-destroyingly loud, over-enthusiastic and cute. But I would love to be her friend.” But she claims that she tried her best not to succumb to the cliches surrounding a Punjabi while playing Kavya.
“I haven’t tried to put on any obvious Punjabi accent or speak with that twang. Even in 2 States, I didn’t speak like a typical Tamilian with an exaggerated accent. We tried to keep it real,” said Alia. And by ‘we’, she means Varun Dhawan, her co-star from her debut Student Of The Year. The two have reunited to give us the ultimate love story this weekend.
“The world can never get enough of a good love story. I can never get tired of When Harry Met Sally or a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai … this is a desi [rooted in Indianess] love story and is a tale of the underdog,” said Dhawan in a separate interview.
In the film, he plays Rakesh Sharma, whose nickname is Humpty because he was overweight as a child. Humpty and Kavya are college buddies who are in denial about their mutual attraction. Like any good Bollywood drama, they acknowledge their feelings only after one of them decides to get married to somebody else, making the scenario convoluted.
“Throughout the film, we have a love-hate relationship. We are like that in real life too,” said Alia with a laugh. Often Alia has been compared to more experienced actress, Kareena Kapoor, who’s known for her vivacious on-screen persona. Alia playing a Punjabi in her latest film has entrenched that belief. The big question is: will Kavya be more endearing than Geet (Kapoor) in Jab We Met?
“You can’t ever recreate that. Nobody will ever reach that level. There was magic created on screen in Jab We Met… Comparisons are inevitable but she [Kapoor] has set a high mark for us. So I take it as a compliment if anybody compares us,” said Alia.
Comparisons don’t end there. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya may also vaguely remind you of Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Two punjabi lovers fighting against all odds is the stuff of most Bollywood love stories.
“The theme of love is universal. In all humility, this is our humble tribute or ode to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. This is a complete family entertainer and Kavya and Humpty will grow on you,” said Dhawan.
According to Alia, the key to a successful portrayal is to make the movie’s dialogue her own.
“I had to be convincing when I said those lines... And remember never take any movie too seriously. Just let go and let characters in a film win you over.” It looks like Alia has learnt from the best in business.
“I knew she was a born entertainer... But I tell her that Bollywood is no rose garden and that you need to learn how to negotiate with your learning curves… Alia has made a tremendous, sparkling start and I hope she has the courage to keep on fuelling her performances with unusual roles,” said Mahesh.
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Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania releases in the UAE on July 10.
