'I went in school uniform for Student of the Year audition', reveals Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt and Karan Johar’s deep personal bond is not something moviegoers are unaware of. They have even received significant trolling online for bringing up each other’s names at every possible juncture during interviews. Nevertheless, the two continue to shower immense love on each other. In a recent interview, Alia recalled her first meeting with Karan for her debut film Student of the Year. She also shared how director-choreographer Farah Khan reacted when she saw her dance to the film’s song ‘Radha teri chunri‘.

Recalling her foray into the film industry as a child artiste in Tanuja Chandra’s Sangharsh (1999), Alia recently revealed that her mother, actor-director Soni Razdan, wasn’t particularly keen on her pursuing an acting career at such a young age. In contrast, her father and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, she said, wholeheartedly supported her wish.

“[Years later], I got called in to meet Karan Johar for Student Of The Year while I was still in school. I was in the 11th grade, literally going from school, so I was in my uniform. I was much ‘healthier’ and enjoyed eating french fries more at that time. I thought, ‘I look great… there’s nothing wrong.’ So, I walked into his office, and he said I was charming in person and asked me to do an



audition. I didn’t know what an audition was, but I went in, gave the audition, and the rest is history,” she said during the Red Sea Film Festival 2023 in Jeddah.

When asked if she fell in love with the profession instantaneously, Alia responded with a resounding “Absolutely!” “I remember the first day of the shoot was when we were filming for the song ‘Radha Teri Chunri,’ and I had to walk down some stairs, take the dupatta off, and look into the camera. Farah Khan was the choreographer, and I did the shot. She said, ‘Oh, heroine!’ I thought there were 15 cameras that would just keep rolling at the same time, and because I was rehearsing the song for one month, I thought I needed to perform the song like how we do on a stage and they shoot it. I didn’t know that we had to wait and do shot-by-shot,” she recalled.

“It took seven days to shoot that song, and in the middle, I sprained my leg and hurt my back. It was daunting and scary, as from day one of the shoot, Yash Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, and Rishi Kapoor were all present on set to congratulate us, as we three were newcomers. So, we were very nervous, given the presence of so many stalwarts in the room. But I think from that moment on, I realized that I am my most present self in front of the camera,” she added.