From playing a college student in Student of the Year to a girl understanding the intricacies of relationships in Dear Zindagi, Alia Bhatt has played a variety of roles in films. The actress does feel that films at times do change a person from within when they essay an important character over a period of time.
“I have done a film called Raazi where I played the character of an unsung hero. If you are living that role and that character for over six months, you realise that there is a change within you. You can only understand a bit of what they have done but cannot imagine what they have done. For me, living through the beats of a character and the character’s psychology is a small part of the process. They are the ones who have actually gone through it,” Alia shares.
Alia will soon be seen as Sita in RRR. Her role in this Telugu-Hindi film is a bit more fictional. She confesses that when she reached the sets of the film, she was a bundle of nerves. “I was very excited, but I was also very nervous. I had by then known a bit of the Telugu language and had very well studied the given part and mugged up my lines sitting every day with my coach. But at the end of the day, I think maybe in English or Hindi but not in Telugu. I was nervous and wanted to portray my character well and give the right pauses,” she shares.
Alia felt a lot more at ease once she realised what director SS Rajamouli had done to make her comfortable. “Rajamouli sir had done everything for me. He made it so much easier because he is so clear in what he wants with every line, every shot and every emotion. And then I was just observing. I was just like an audience watching him perform it, and I would try and imitate him. So then, the emotions were excitement to get it right. But once it was done, I was quite sad because my experience with sir was over. Hopefully, I will have another one,” Alia adds.
Alia’s co-stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan used to converse in Telugu in front of her, and she was clueless most of the time about what they spoke. “Jr NTR and Ram were always talking to each other in Telugu in front of me. I used to look like I was watching a tennis ball here and there waiting for someone to translate it for me,” Alia concludes with a chuckle. RRR will release on January 7, 2022.
