Will be blown away if I get a National Award: Alia Bhatt

By Sandeep Sharma

New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) She is on a winning spree at various award galas for her impactful portrayal of a Bihari migrant in "Udta Punjab". And even though she doesn't work for trophies, the young and versatile Alia Bhatt says she will be blown away if she gets a National Award.

Having won the Best Actress trophy at the recently-held Filmfare Awards and Screen Awards, Alia's deglamourised performance as a victim of drug abuse in "Udta Punjab" could be one of the frontrunners for the Best Actress category at the upcoming 64th National Film Awards.

"I will be blown away if I get it. It's an honour to win a National Award. I don't know if it's possible, but if it happens, of course, I will be very glad," Alia told IANS.

However, Alia says she will not be disappointed even if she doesn't get it.

"With awards, you are rewarded for just your efforts. I don't think of it as the be-all and end-all. I don't work for awards, but the year that you get them, it's just that you feel very grateful and you feel very glad that your efforts have been recognised.

"There's nothing else to feel about it. You shouldn't take it too seriously; and if you don't get it, that doesn't mean that your career is over," added the daughter of veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan.

Starting her career in the Hindi film industry at a young age with the 2012 film "Student of the Year", Alia, who turns 24 on March 15, has carved out a niche for herself in Bollywood in a short time span through her roles in movies like "Highway", "2 States" and "Dear Zindagi".

"More than me, I want other people to say whether it is the high point or low point in my career. For me, these are just points that I wanted to achieve... I started at a young age. It's been five years now. But for me, I don't understand what's younger or older. I don't understand age," Alia said, adding that she wants to "work like this even when I am 40 or 50 or 80, if possible".

For her choice of roles, Alia says she follows her instinct.

"There is no thought process while taking up new roles. You just go with an instinct. I don't want to play the same type of characters every time. I don't want people to say that Alia only does these kinds of films -- which is why my choice of films is very different, because I want to satisfy my wants," Alia said.

She wants to try all genres.

"I want to do action, comedy, love story or a biopic -- I want to do everything. That's what I think about while choosing a film. Each time, I want to do different from what I did last," she said.

Alia is currently busy promoting her forthcoming entertainer "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" and said that, like her previous work, doing this film was also a challenge for her.

"Every film that I pick up is a sort of challenge for me. 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania' was challenging because it is (set) in a different place altogether. I am playing a girl from Kota. She is a small-town girl and very different from other characters that I have played.

"Through such films, you have to make the audience smile and cry at the same time -- that itself is a challenge," she said.

The film is slated to release on March 10.

(Sandeep Sharma can be contacted atsandeep.s@ians.in)

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