Time and again, Alia Bhatt has proved to be one of the most phenomenal actresses in Bollywood. With her impeccable acting skills, the actress has successfully carved a niche for herself bringing in the perfect charm, wit and sensibility of her on-screen characters. Her contribution to cinema especially for the millennial audience has been widely appreciated and loved.
Speaking of which there have been moments where we could connect with her emotionally, as every personality portrayed by her on-screen isn’t devoid of depth. As the actress turns a year older today, let’s revisit five specific moments from her movies, where we resonated with her due to her impactful screen presence.

Raising her voice for mental health – Kaira, from ‘Dear Zindagi’

When Alia’s character as Kaira had an outburst during that house party, most of us could relate to the chaos which triggered inside her. Talking about therapy, opening up about your depression to your family is indeed a challenge when there’s an immense amount of communication gap. The actress pulled off that moment with the right portrayals of emotions with perfection. Kaira inspires ones to acknowledge their feelings and helps one to understand ‘it’s okay to not be okay’

Wanting to be self-made – Vaidehi, from ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’

Vaidehi’s dream of standing up for herself seemed impossible if she was to marry her love interest from a conservative family. Hence, on her wedding day, she leaves her fiancé at the altar and runs towards fulfilling her dream of becoming an air hostess. When her heartbroken partner comes in search of her, Vaidehi-who’s a flight trainee then agrees to marry him only if she gets to work after marriage. She soon starts her own flight attendant training centre in India. Vaidehi inspires one to take a stand for oneself challenging patriarchal norms and be self-sufficient.

Devotion, support and overprotectiveness in a relationship – Safeena, from ‘Gully Boy’

When Safeena entered into the girl’s workstation to hit her and say, ”
Door reh mere boyfriend se.” Most of us could relate to her- getting into major fights for our love. Safeena and Murad’s relationship is one such bond most of the youth could relate to. Not only being a protective girlfriend, but Safeena is also bold, resilient and made sure to not leave her partner’s side right from being in his struggling days to the time he gave his best concert performance.


Confronting her sexual predator – Veera, from ‘Highway’

Veera tells the story of a million girls worldwide who have been victims of sexual abuse. In a series of events, she gets kidnapped and falls in love with the newfound freedom she owned. When she is brought back home, she confronts her uncle who molested her as a child, in front of her family. She yells and breaks down asking her father why he warned her only about dangers posed by outsiders when the real threat was inside her home. Her screams were indeed the voice of most of the girls worldwide who have been sexually abused by their relatives.

Need for an identity – A nameless character, from ‘Udta Punjab’

All of us are craving to have our own identity. No matter our class or status, when it comes to finding something which truly defines us, we are all under the same sky. In the movie, the filmmaker wanted to keep Alia’s character nameless as millions of immigrant labourers unnoticed and nameless, succumb to various issues and abuse. She had dreams of playing national level hockey for the country which was shattered, so she came to Punjab to work as a labourer. She is seen working for a local landlord who uses agriculture as a front for drug-peddling. Hence, she never had an identity of her known, something which she craved immensely.