It’s hard to recall another film star from the last couple of decades who has consistently redefined both herself and our expectations the way Alia Bhatt has. When she made her debut in Student of the Year (2012), it’s fair to say she had the the least impressive turn-up, but over the past 10 years, she has selected her projects well, refused to be slotted to a type, and become that rare female actor who can flex box office muscle.
As the 29-year-old actor completes a decade in the industry, we look at her films and performances. And we’re keeping RRR (2022) out of the ranking because it is simply not an Alia Bhatt by any standard. The actor repeatedly mentioned in her promotional interviews that she would have done anything just to be a part of the Rajamouli universe — and that’s precisely what happened. The hyper-masculine universe of RRR has little place for Bhatt. Fortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule as far as Bhatt’s filmography goes.
16. SADAK 2 (2020)
It makes for an amazing casting coup on paper — Alia Bhatt stepping into the shoes of her step-sister while her father comes out of retirement to direct the sequel of his 30-year-old box-office blockbuster. Yet, Sadak 2 is a puzzlingly dull film, devoid of any edge or poignance. Every frame and every use of background music is so particularly Vishesh Films, but strangely enough, it’s Bhatt herself who seems least at ease here, unable to channel her energy in a film that has little place for it.
15. BRAHMASTRA (2022)
Brahmastra isn’t the weakest Alia Bhatt performance, but it’s the film’s timing that hurts the actor’s filmography the most. Brahmastra arrived in the same year that Bhatt delivered Gangubai Kathiawadi and Darlings. Even though Bhatt occupies one-half of the love story that lies at the centre of this coming-of-age fantasy adventure, her Isha makes little impact. It’s an underwritten character and no one could look past how the bulk of her dialogues were screams of “Shivaaaa”, as Isha called for her beloved Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor). Commercially speaking, Brahmastra is the biggest hit of Bhatt’s career and yet she has so little to do in it.
14. KALANK (2019)
Bhatt looked elegant and beautiful in Abhishek Verman’s 2019 costume-drama, but as someone who had soared with her naturalistic portrayals of a contemporary woman, she struggled to do justice to the poetry-heavy dialogue or bring the romantic gravitas that we associate with period films. Bhatt’s shortcomings become all the more glaring because the actors around her, especially Madhuri Dixit, are clearly more seasoned at melodrama.
