Alia Bhatt is gearing up for another layered role in her next, Kalank that stars Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit in key roles.
The recently released trailer garnered immense praise on both sides of the border, particularly Alia’s character Roop. She will be essaying a 25-year-old, free spirited young woman who Alia described as, “Free, bound only by love,” in her Instagram post.
Speaking to PTI about prepping for her role, Alia shared that Kashaf’s character (essayed by Sanam Saeed) in Zindagi Gulzar Hai was one of the characters she looked up to. Her director Abhishek Varman recommended the play to her, she informed.
“I watched a lot of old films like Mughal-E-Azam and Umrao Jaan to get an understanding of grace and body language,” she noted. “I had to clean my Hindi as I am speaking Urdu in the film. Abhishek asked me to watch Zindagi Gulzar Hai; the character of the girl [Kashaf] in the show is very much how Roop will deal with the situation.”
“She has responsibility on her shoulders so she is not always a happy person,” added Alia. “She is vulnerable yet strong. It is difficult (to bring so many) layers – unhappy, vulnerable and strong to a character. Abhishek kept saying that I should not be irritating.”
This reiterates how much Pakistani dramas are watched and liked by viewers across the border and that art should always be beyond geography and political upheavals.
