Despite being born into a film family, Alia Bhatt has successfully cemented her name as one of the most versatile and top-rated actors in Bollywood now. When she single-handedly crossed the 200-crore mark with Gangubai Kathiawadi at the box office and won her first National Award at a very young age, she proved that nepotism is not always as terrible as people portray it. However, we do agree with her father Mahesh Bhatt on his recent judgement on her debut film—Student of the Year (2012).

Mahesh Bhatt's perception on Alia Bhatt's character Shanaya Singhania

Today in an exclusive interview with India Today, the Aashiqui-director was asked about his favourite performance of daughter Alia till date, to which he answered Highway (2014), Udta Punjab (2016), and instantly described his feelings about Student of the Year.

Bhatt stated that her performance was like a ‘mannequin’ in that film. “I was devastated by Udta Punjab. I didn’t understand how this Juhu girl, exposed to our normal family life, managed to perfectly capture the accent of an Adivasi from Chhattisgarh. It was astounding”, he further added.

Mahesh Bhatt's proud moments of Alia Bhatt

The Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin-director continued explaining that how parents feel proud when they watch their children evolve in their career and get success more and more in life. He also gave a big shout out to Alia for being a lovely mother to Raha, and how it profoundly impacted in her life, “Her raw power and ability to enter such a vulnerable space and bare her heart in Highway and Udta Punjab marked a significant departure from her earlier mannequin-like role in Student of the Year.”

Mahesh Bhatt and Alia Bhatt's movies together

The father-daughter duo first collaborated in Sadak 2 in 2020, which is the sequel to the 1991 film, Sadak, which starred Bhatt’s eldest daughter Pooja Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, and Deepak Tijori. Sadak 2 is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Alia Bhatt's upcoming films

After the huge success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and her big Hollywood debut in Gal Gadot-starrer Heart of Stone in 2023, Alia Bhatt is now gearing up for another arthouse film—Jigra, directed by Vasan Bala. The film also stars Vedang Raina, who is supposedly to be seen as Alia’s younger brother. Raina made his debut with Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies last year.

Other than Jigra, Alia also has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War in her list, where she will be collaborating with husband Ranbir Kapoor for the second time, and Vicky Kaushal for the first time.

Read Also: Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha: Shantanu Maheshwari shares his deep connection with Ajay Devgn, ‘He was the one to…’