Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt said in an interview to reporters that she believes acting is a “challenge” and added that she is “not naturally gifted” in the art. The 25 year old said that although she tries to not let the pressure of her profession get to her rather she tries to go with the flow when its time to perform.
“Nothing comes naturally to me. I’m not saying acting is a terrible procedure. It’s a challenge. But the process is such that you don’t have to take it seriously and just let it flow naturally in a sense of the character, not you as an actor.”
Talking about her new character for her latest venture, Raazi, Alia stated that she realized a lot about the misconceptions people have regarding spy characters, “You don’t have to have a strong and forceful demeanor to look like a spy. She’s (Sehmat) very quiet, feminine and scared at the same time. She’s graceful, soft and at the same time very strong. I watched some films to get the character’s outline right but I didn’t have to do anything overtly. I just had to stay true to the situation.”
“An actor is nothing without the story or the character they play. I’m automatically more attracted to the variety of roles, the scope of portrayal in the story and the genre. It’s not like I put too much thought in picking up roles. You may take some time in choosing a type of character but eventually you know what your gut wants. First instinct is usually the one that you should go with and that’s what I do. Every time I give too much thought into a project, I know I should not be doing it,” she further added.
Alia also talked about the need for talking about the nation’s unsung heroes, “The film, based on Harinder Sikka’s novel “Calling Sehmat”, is a true story and Gulzar says it explores the existence of several “unsung heroes”. The director says emotions and ideals have evolved over time from 1971 till now and similarly, the concept of heroes also needs to keep up with the change. “Otherwise, we will become stagnant as a society,” she added.
“The kind of patriotism we are talking about in the film may come across as unfamiliar but because this is a true story, the emotions the nations felt at that time, do they exist today or should they even exist is the question. “If the film succeeds to spark a debate about introspection with respect to the idea of nationalism, we would be happy. If people start questioning what is the essence of patriotism, what is it to love and sacrifice for your country, I will be very happy,” she concluded.
