Alia Bhatt on ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi,’ and why her life lessons are through her characters and films

The actor talks about the challenges of playing a sex worker who went on to become a mafia queen, working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, bonding with Ranbir Kapoor over cinema, and more

Cinema pundits often say that you have to experience life to depict it. But then we have Alia Bhatt.

The actor grew up in a privileged, protective environment, predictably debuted with a young romance at 17 with Student of the Year, but soon graduated to the top league with a series of roles that belied her age, training, and background. The  Highway she took in 2014 is dotted with milestones like  Udta Punjab,  Raazi, and  Gully Boy. “All my exposure to life has been through my characters and films,” says Alia Bhatt as we settle for a chat before  Gangubai Kathiawadi, another challenging role of hers which will be put to test this week.

There are many things that you like about Alia, but honesty perhaps tops the list. “Even a sense of struggle and hardships that I have experienced is through my characters. I believe life is essentially a struggle; it is interspersed with some moments of joy, but mainly it is a struggle. In terms of the variety of struggle, I guess I have experienced it all,” says Alia, who grew up under the wings of Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan.

Growing up, she says, the conversations at home were very candid. “We weren’t scared of talking about fears and what the real world is like. My father doesn’t sugarcoat it for anyone. It was not like he sat me down and had a talk, but I could imbibe from the conversations that he had with other people. It was a very honest atmosphere,” she remembers.

But atmosphere needs to be put into practice, isn’t it? Alia says if we get to know how  it happens, there is no fun. “I didn’t care about  duniya main kya cha raha hai (what’s going on) as I was more concerned about my world, but it opened up my window of empathy and understanding. So now when I portray a character, if I empathise with the person, I can imagine the situation.”

Empathy with the character, she insists, is the crux. “It channels into your body and reflects through your eyes,” she explains.

Curiously, she doesn’t need to visit spaces, or meet the people whose stories she portrays. “If I understand the perspective of the person I am playing and where they are coming from, I can picturise the person by simply talking to the director,” says Alia.