Extremely talented and incredibly charming, Alia Bhatt is one of the most sought-after actresses in Bollywood in recent times. She debuted as a child actress in Sangharsh (1999), where she played the younger version of the lead character played by Preity Zinta. Over a decade later, she debuted as a lead actress in Karan Johar`s Student of the Year (2012) alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.

Apart from being a part of several critically acclaimed films, Alia is also a gifted singer. She had briefly trained at A.R. Rahman`s music school before making her playback singing debut in Highway. In addition to this, she is the ambassador for several reputed brands and has launched her own line of clothing and handbags. Alia is also an environmentalist, and spearheaded an ecological initiative named CoExist in 2017 to raise awareness about the welfare of street animals.

EARLY LIFE
Alia Bhatt was born to filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan on 15 March 1993, in Mumbai. She holds a British citizenship since her mother is from UK and India doesn`t allow dual citizenship. She has a biological sister Shaheen Bhatt and two half-siblings, Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt. Music director Mukesh Bhatt is her paternal uncle and Emraan Hashmi and Mohit Suri are her paternal cousins. Alia completed her schooling at the renowned school, Jamnabai Narsee in Mumbai. As a child, she was nicknamed `Aloo` by her loved ones. Growing up, she also developed a keen interest in charcoal painting - a hobby she keeps up to this day.

Alia always wanted to become an actress and had no intentions of studying further after completing her schooling. Despite being born to a celebrated Indian director, she wanted to begin her journey in Bollywood on the merit of her acting skills, and soon she made her debut with Karan Johar`s production, Student of the Year. For her debut role, Bhatt had to lose 16 kgs in three months.

PERSONAL LIFE
Fondly called Aloo at home, Bhatt is very close to her elder sister Shaheen and mother, Soni Razdan, and considers them her biggest support system. She is reportedly dating her Kapoor and Sons co-star, Sidharth Malhotra.

DEBUT & INITIAL YEARS
Alia Bhatt portrayed the role of a stylish and sassy teenager, Shanaya Singhania, in her debut film, Student of the Year, for which she received great reviews. Touted as one of the most promising newcomers of tinsel town, Alia then went onto to star in Imtiaz Ali`s film, Highway, opposite Randeep Hooda and won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the lonely teenage girl who develops Stockholm syndrome.

Her second major release of 2014 after Highway was a Dharma Productions film, 2 States, opposite Arjun Kapoor. Bhatt played the role of an opinionated Tamil girl, and her performance was well appreciated by the critics.

Post this, Bhatt was again cast opposite Varun Dhawan in her next film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, which went on to become a box office success. In 2015, she was seen with Shahid Kapoor in Shaandar, portraying the role of an insomniac. Shaandar was not received well at the box office. However, her first release of the year 2016, Kapoor and Sons, a family drama, was critically and commercially successful. Alia played the role of a lively young girl who falls in love with a boy hailing from a dysfunctional family. The film also starred Fawad Khan and Sidharth Malhotra.

BREAKTHROUGH & BEYOND
She next appeared along with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh in Abhishek Chaubey`s film Udta Punjab. Even after facing continuous issues with the censor board, the movie opened to extremely impressive reviews. Her third release in 2016 was Gauri Shinde`s directorial venture Dear Zindagi, where she portrayed Kaira, an aspiring cinematographer in search of a perfect life. Starring alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt was highly praised for carrying the film on her shoulders, with her performance being appreciated by critics and audiences alike. Alia`s 2017 release includes the romantic comedy Badrinath Ki Dulhania, the second film installment after Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the movie co-stars Varun Dhawan in the lead role. The movie opened to positive reviews and went on to become the ninth highest-grossing movies of that year.

RECENT PROJECTS
Her other releases include Meghna Gulzar`s period thriller Raazi opposite Vicky Kaushal, Zoya Akhtar`s musical drama Gully Boy, which is based on the underground rap scene in Mumbai, where she is cast alongside Ranveer Singh. Her 2022 releases include RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi and Ayan Mukerji`s fantasy trilogy, the first part of which is titled Brahmastra and also features Amitabh Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor. Her other releases include Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and Darlings. Post that, she joined the girl gang in Jee Le Zaraa (2023).