One look at Alia and you will agree that she is perhaps the most non-starry celebrity. She can pass off as a girl fresh out of college for a few more years but what stands out about her is that she’s detached but emotional.
Her career has seen highs and lows, from Student of the Year and 2 States to Udta Punjab,Kapoor & Sons and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, and she is now all kicked about Gauri Shinde’s Dear Zindagi, set to release on November 25.
Four years, a few hits and a few misses and seven awards later, how do you think you have fared?
Rating yourself is like putting boundaries. I don’t set limits. Right now, I am inspired to do more. Though the kind of hunger I had has changed over the years, it has definitely stayed. Today, I want my roles to challenge me, blow me away and break the mould.
Tell us a little about Dear Zindagi...
It’s all about finding joy in imperfections. It’s all about life and its journey and finding answers to all your questions. I ask the questions and Shah Rukh answers them.
Tell us about the first thing that crossed your mind when you knew you’d be sharing screen space with Shah Rukh Khan....
I am a huge fan of SRK and it was surreal when I heard I would be working with him. Gauri had to initially keep telling me to calm down. It took a while— I kept pinching myself to see if it was real.
Is Kaira, the character you play in the film, a lot like you?
When I first started acting as Kaira, I was zapped; it looked like someone had penned me down. But as the character grew, I realised that Kaira is far moodier and more impulsive than me.
After playing Ananya Swaminathan in 2 States , how much Tamil do you still remember?
I had a Tamil teacher on those sets. Revathy maam helped me learn my dialogues and deliver it. “Seri”, “Yennachu” and “Nee Pesaama Iru” are the words I still remember.
