So weird that Alia is 24 today! When I was 24, I had just lost my 3rd post-college job and started working minimum wage in a movie theater. Which is kind of like being a major movie star I guess? At least we were both making money of the film industry. Except I had more popcorn smell that never gets out of your hair, and she has more glamorous premieres.
1. 1. I love you because you come from such an interesting family. A mother who is descended from Kashmiri and German refugees, and a father who is, well, Mahesh Bhatt!
2. I love you because it’s not just your parents who are cool! Your much older sister Pooja was a major talent as a teenager, just like yourself, and then transitioned to producing and directing, just like you might someday.
3. Even your cousins get in on the act! Mohit Suri is a talented director of the kind of sexy young romances your production house loves, and Emraan Hashmi is a talented star of those.
4. I love you because you grew up being super cute on filmsets, as we can see from this photo and from Shahrukh’s memories of playing with you during Chaahat and Duplicate.
5. I love you because you also grew up having all the confidence in the world, Karan remembers his first meeting with you to audition for SOTY, you were chubby and in a school uniform, but you danced around like you were already a superstar.
6. I love you because you showed that confidence in your very first movie. Where you weren’t a very good dancer, and hadn’t figured out acting so much, but you still held the center of the screen with pure chutzpah.
7. I love you because in your second film you suddenly gained all the acting ability in the world, and still kept that quality of confidently facing the camera.
8. You also served as a playback singer for the first time on this film, something a little unusual that has no become a standard part of the Alia Bhatt film promotion.
9. You continued to break barriers in your 3rd film, doing your first sex scene, cheerfully and light-heartedly.
10. And your dancing may not have been that great still, but it was getting a lot better!
11. I love you because you could have easily used Student of the Year for a launching pad into another series of light “girlfriend” type roles. But instead you took over a year for your next film and dedicated yourself entirely to learning your craft so that you could burst forth with one of the all time great performances of Hindi cinema in Highway. So good that I never want to watch it again, because it is too real.
12. I love you because you went straight from Highway to 2 States, the exact kind of light rom-com you could have been doing all along. Only you brought with you the acting skills and emotional depth you had gained in Highway which made your character so much better than the “standard” rom-com heroine had to be.
13. I love you because you went from one rom-com to another, which also reunited you with your SOTY co-star. And this second one demanded a lot more of your performance and character, and boy did you deliver! Helping to make Humpty Sharma one of the iconic films of the past few years.
14. I love you because after 2 States and Humpty Sharma, and then Shaandar, Highway was beginning to look like a one off experiment. And then BAM! Udta Punjab! Which took your performance from Highway and went even better!
15. And if Udta Punjab wasn’t enough, in the same year you gave us a subtle performance in Dear Zindagi that managed to carry the whole film, and what was essentially just an extended cameo in Kapoor & Sons which still managed to make more of an impression than one of the leads (Sidharth!).
16. I love you because you sang and danced with Shahid Kapoor in Shandaar.
17. And then a few months later you worked with him in a searing emotional confession scene with no glamour at all in Udta Punjab.
18. And in between the two you squeezed in a fun party song with Rishi Kapoor!
19. Not to mention the catchy party song of the year!
20. And you rounded out the year by going toe to toe with one of the best and best trained actors in Hindi film, and holding your own!
21. I love you because you refuse to play the game with your personal life either. You don’t talk about who you are dating, but you also don’t pretend that you are a perfect virgin who has never dated. You keep your personal life personal, but you aren’t ashamed of it.
22. I love you because you are only 24, and only in the industry 5 years, and you have already come so incredibly far! I can’t wait to see where you are at 5 years from now.
23. I also love you because your newest film looks like it might be one of the biggest hits of your career, definitely bringing you to a new level in a global audience (released in Germany!).
24. And finally, I love you because Humpty Sharma is one of my all time favorite movies, and your performance in it redefined the young heroine role. Someone who could get drunk and joke with the boys, but still be innocent and fragile.
dontcallitbollywood 
Heartily agree! I love Alia and she’s been in some of my favorite Rom Coms of recent years, Humpty and 2 States. Blown away by her heartbreaking scenes in Highway and Udta Punjab.
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I really hope she keeps up this balance of artsy intense performances with light mainstream ones! I love how she is able to bring some mainstream publicity to deserving art movies, and how she brings intense acting ability to what would otherwise be light rom-com roles.
On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 11:15 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Don’t you think that it’s interesting that all three students’ second films came out in 2014. SOTY came out in October of 2012 and then all three didn’t show up on screen again until 2014 when they all had multiple releases. I just checked; Highway and Hasee Toh Phasee came out in February while Main Tera Hero and 2 States were April. And then Ek Villain and Humpty Sharma came out in June and July respectively. Do you think this gap was something Karan advised them about?
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I bet it wasn’t a gap for the sake of a gap. I bet he just advised them not to commit to anything until SOTY came out. Hrithik had signed like 5 films before KNPH came out and he had even finished filming some. And then he had to wait until all those films were completed before he could really start to capitalize on his success.
It must have been tempting for sid and alia and varun to start signing stuff while they waited for SOTY to come out, but I bet Karan made them promise to wait and plan on better offers coming their way after.
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Yeah, that sounds like what must have happened. But it is really surprising how Alia went from SOTY to Highway so quickly! I’ve never finished Highway due to technical difficulties, but just by scenes that I’ve seen you could tell how talented she is. One thing that surprised me was how Varun agreed to do a film with his father right after SOTY. I know that he loves his father’s brand of cinema but one would think that he would not work with his father right away like Alia and Arjun Kapoor. But then Varun did sign Badlapur before Main Tera Hero came out.
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I wonder if Student of the Year didn’t do as much for Varun as it did for Alia and Sidharth? Certainly I didn’t notice him in it. Maybe he got offers, but none of them were as good as Main Tera Hero, even if it was directed by his Dad, which featured him as the central character?
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Really? Before I saw Student of the Year, I liked Sidharth better because he looks better but after watching the movie I was actually more impressed with Varun.
I remember that most of the reviews that I read of SOTY praised Varun more than Sidharth, but you may be right in terms of public perception. I’m sure that he felt it was best to do Main Tera Hero because it would be a sort of a re-launch where he could showcase all his skills.
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Yeah, Student of the Year had some good acting moments, and great dancing, but he didn’t really get to do a romance scene or much of a comedy scene. Main Tera Hero really let him show that off.
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You do such a great job with these birthday posts. I still haven’t seen Udta Punjab, so I think I’ll watch it tonight as a tribute to amazing Alia on her birthday! I can’t believe that she is only 24 and has already turned in so many wonderful performances. I can’t wait to see what she does next. The sky is the limit!
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Watch out! Udta Punjab is going to wreck you, especially Alia’s role. But, on the other hand, it will give you a different perspective on Diljit after seeing him in the Punjabi comedies. And just in time for Phillauri!
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Right on Diljit. He was breakout star. Especially, considering he comes from a small movie industry. He has worked really hard
Phillauri better not turned to be a bad movie.
Udta Punjab is Alia’s best movie.
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Woo! Happy Birthday Alia!
I watch everything she touches.
I’ve seen Highway twice because it was sooo good, but I couldn’t get myself to watch Udta Punjab again. That was just too upsetting.
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Udta Punjab was too upsetting but Highway wasn’t? That’s interesting. For me, I found them both upsetting, but I think I might have a slightly easier time re-watching Udta than Highway. Although that could just be because of my inexplicable allergy to Randeep Hooda’s face.
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Udta Punjab as upsetting? It was an awesome movie.
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If they ever remake Om Shanti Oshana in Hindi, I want Alia to do Nazriya’s role.She can pull off the transformation from school girl to adult, be vulnerable and bratty,apple of her daddy’s eye and conscientious doctor at the same time.Who would you cast to play Nivin’s role as the older unattainable hero? Shahid? Ranbir?
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That’s a great idea! I think Anushka might have been even better casting, but she’s too old to pull it off now. We have to really buy the idea that she is too young for them to get together at the beginning.
Hmmm, I think I would like Nivin’s role to be someone kind of young looking too. Oh! Sidharth! It’s the perfect part for him, there’s only like 4 lines of dialogue!
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I think the casting of Alia is great, but I could also see Parineeti in the role as well. Anushka does seem a bit too old for the role now.
I agree, this would be that one movie where Sidharth would be perfect! Because Nivin was older than Nazriya, but he didn’t seem too old for her like someone like Shahid would be.
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Plus, Siddharth looks really good in a beard!
On Thu, Mar 16, 2017 at 12:40 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Although, I dont agree with most of the points but even the ones with which I agree with, Alia Bhatt is worth loving. She is only real talent.
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