Alia Bhatt recently made her Cannes debut. The actress spoke about her transformation after the birth of daughter Rhea.
Alia Bhatt, who made her acting debut in 2012, made her Cannes debut after almost 12 years in the film industry. The actress was in the news for her three stunning looks at the Cannes International Film Festival, especially when she wore a custom Gucci gown that was more or less designed like an Indian lehenga.
While the actress was in the French Riviera performing her brand ambassador duties for Gucci and L’Oreal Paris, her heart was in India where her daughter Rhea Kapoor is. In a recent interview, Alia Bhatt spoke about how motherhood has changed her as a person. She said, “It felt like a person has gone and then I started thinking, ‘Who am I? Who is this new person?'”
In a conversation with Brut India, Alia Bhatt shared that she is not sure how motherhood has changed her approach towards films or roles, but it has definitely helped her inculcate a lot of empathy within herself. She said, “I think your heart is completely open.
There is a sensitivity that you cannot put your finger on. I think I am not the same person. So I am not the same person I was before becoming a mother. I think a lot will naturally change without me thinking that ‘okay, now I am a mother’. I naturally think differently. These are the first things I noticed. It felt like a person has gone and then I started thinking, ‘Who am I? Who is this new person?'”
Another change the actress noticed in herself was the art of having silent conversations with new mothers. “I can have silent conversations with new mothers and they will understand exactly what I am saying.” The actress, who left her daughter at home and travelled to Cannes alone, said she never feels like she is alone.
“Their care and presence is always with me. You don’t think about yourself very often. That is the biggest thing that has changed. You become an outsider to that one person and then to everyone else. Everyone’s pain, tears, affects you as if it is your child’s pain and tears. You see the world from your child’s perspective. You are completely open.”
In the same conversation, the actress also spoke about the globalisation of Indian cinema. She shared, “I think Indian cinema is so big that we are a continent in ourselves. The language, dialect, culture changes every 3 kilometres. Global recognition will come when it has to come. It is not going to change what we are doing and it is not going to change what we are offering in terms of culture: cinema, art and music.”
She said that she feels proud when Indians get global recognition, but believes that it should have come a long time ago. “I feel very proud when Payal Kapadia wins at Cannes. I feel proud when the team of Homebound walks the red carpet. But, I don’t feel like this is the beginning. I think it’s time now that awareness is raised. I think it’s a dam waiting to burst because we have so much to give.”
On the work front, Alia Bhatt was last seen in Zirgara. The actress will next be seen in Alpha, the first female-led film in the YRF spy universe. Alia is also a part of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love and War, in which she will be seen sharing the screen with her husband Ranbir Kapoor and Raazi co-star Vicky Kaushal.
