Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993) is an actress who works mainly in Hindi films. She is known for playing women in difficult circumstances. She has won a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, and her six wins for Best Actress are a record. Time gave her its Time100 Impact Award in 2022 and named her one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2024. She also runs the production company Eternal Sunshine Productions.

Early life and background

Bhatt was born in Bombay (now Mumbai). She is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, and she is part of the Bhatt film family. She went to Jamnabai Narsee School and took dance classes at Shiamak Davar's institute. Her first screen appearance was at the age of five, playing the younger version of Preity Zinta's character in Sangharsh (1999).

Career

Breakthrough (2012–2015)

Bhatt's first leading role was in Karan Johar's Student of the Year (2012). She followed it with a very different part in Imtiaz Ali's road drama Highway (2014), as a young woman who is abducted. The role won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Later in 2014 she starred in two Dharma Productions romances, 2 States and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

Established actress (2016–2021)

The year 2016 brought Kapoor & Sons, Udta Punjab and Dear Zindagi. In Udta Punjab she played a poor Bihari migrant caught up in the drug trade, and the role won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Badrinath Ki Dulhania followed in 2017. In Meghna Gulzar's Raazi (2018) she played Sehmat Khan, an Indian spy married into a Pakistani military family. It became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films led by a woman and brought her a second Best Actress award. In 2019 she founded Eternal Sunshine Productions. That year she also played opposite Ranveer Singh in Gully Boy, which won her a third Best Actress award, and appeared in the period drama Kalank.

Career peak (2022–present)

In Sanjay Leela Bhansali's biopic Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), Bhatt played the title role. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. She had a short role in the Telugu period film RRR. She also produced and starred in the Netflix black comedy Darlings, which won her a Filmfare OTT Award. Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva was the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022.

In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023) she played Rani, which earned her a fifth Best Actress award. The same year she made her American film debut in the Netflix spy film Heart of Stone. In 2024 she was an executive producer on the series Poacher. She also co-produced and starred in Jigra, which won her a sixth Best Actress trophy, the most for any actress in that category.

Selected filmography

• 2012 — Student of the Year — Lead
• 2014 — Highway — Abducted young woman
• 2014 — 2 States — Tamil student
• 2016 — Udta Punjab — Bihari migrant
• 2018 — Raazi — Sehmat Khan
• 2019 — Gully Boy — Lead
• 2022 — Gangubai Kathiawadi — Gangubai
• 2022 — Darlings — Lead (also producer)
• 2022 — Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva — Lead
• 2023 — Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani — Rani
• 2024 — Jigra — Lead (also co-producer)
• 2026 — Alpha — Super-soldier

Awards and honours

• National Film Award for Best Actress — Gangubai Kathiawadi
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress (six) — Udta Punjab, Raazi, Gully Boy, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Jigra
• Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress — Highway
• Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actress in a Web Original Film — Darlings
• Time 100 (2024) and Time100 Impact Award (2022)

Recent and upcoming work

In 2026 Bhatt starred in Alpha, part of the YRF Spy Universe, as a genetically enhanced super-soldier. The film did not do well commercially. Also in 2026, she produced the romantic comedy Don't Be Shy, which introduces four new actors and a first-time director. Next she reunites with Bhansali for Love & War, co-starring Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal, and she will also appear in the horror sequel to Tumbbad.

She is married to actor Ranbir Kapoor, and they have a daughter, Raha.