From Bhatt camp

Petite Alia Bhatt, the daughter of Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt and half-sister of Pooja Bhatt, sounds like any excited youngster. All set to make her debut in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year (SOTY), Alia is a self-admitted KJo fan and enthuses: “I have watched all his films several times, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and My Name is Khan being my absolute favourites. To get to make your debut with him is more than a dream.”

A dream she says she’s been living since the age of four. Everyone in the family knew she was going to end up in front of the camera. “Though I didn’t really enjoy being on the sets, I loved the sound of ‘Action’. I would be all attention then,” she laughs.

Little wonder then, when she got a call from Johar’s office to drop her pictures, she was ecstatic. “I had to say lines from Wake Up Sid and dance to the ‘Bahara’ song from I Hate Luv Storys. All that dancing in front of the mirror at home paid off as I danced as if there was no one in the room! Now, all they wanted me to do was to lose weight.”

“Gol matol si bachchi” is how she describes herself before she was put on a strict diet and exercise regimen. She lost about 16 kilos in four months, traded her favourite French fries with healthy food and ran on the treadmill. From sports shoes she says she had to step into the stylish, long heels of Shanaya Singhania, her character of a rich girl born with a silver spoon in SOTY. She loves to flaunt her designer clothes and her stylish bags.

Christened Baby Bebo on the sets by the likes of Mickey Contractor and Manish Malhotra, Alia preens: “Pooja told me once, ‘Getting Mickey to do your face in your very first film is a big thing! You are lucky.’ The crew felt I reminded them of Kareena; and who would mind that?”

And didn’t she also get a chance to dance with Kajol whose hairstyle in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai she had aped as a child? “No, only the boys could dance with Kajol! I didn’t get a chance.”

One wonders what has been her dad Mahesh Bhatt’s reaction to her doing a film outside his banner? Wouldn’t he have launched her? “Yes, he would have but as I said I am a big KJo fan and I couldn’t have passed up this chance for anything in the world. Besides, dad knew Karan’s dad, and was happy I was in safe hands.” She doesn’t rule out the opportunity to work with her dad’s production some day.

Rumours of a link-up between her and co-star Varun Dhawan have already begun doing the rounds. Is she prepared for the baggage that comes along with the ‘film star’ tag? “Yes, I know these things would happen. My dad has warned me about it. People will write about you and not everything will be good. If someone calls me fat, there is nothing to be angry about because I am fat … though not any longer.”

Alia exudes a certain confidence. Ask her where it stems from and she deliberates: “More than confidence, I think it’s because I am driven. I am very comfortable in front of the camera.”