Alia Bhatt opens up about nepotism, admits being defensive at the start of her career

Actor Alia Bhatt has recently talked about facing questions on nepotism during the early days of her career. The actor made her Bollywood debut in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student of the Year.

Hyderabad: Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, in a recent interaction, has spoken up about facing questions on nepotism at the beginning of her career. Alia, who made her Bollywood debut in 2012 with filmmaker Karan Johar's Student of the Year, said that she was naive about her privileged position before joining the Hindi film industry.

During the interaction, Alia stated she was aware that her family was in the film industry so she was naturally more drawn towards it. However, she said, "It's not like my father ever spoke to me like, 'Oh, the day you want to act, we will give you this movie'. He never brought that up. Never." Alia further said that her mother struggled as an actor, and not many people are aware of it. Despite being married to a director, Alia said that her mother felt like she wasn't getting enough recognition as an actor and was always looking for more work. "You know, I'll find a way to just enjoy that passion, even if I don't make it big as an actor. I always had that doubt. It was not like it was ever a sure thing," she said.

When asked about nepotism in the early stages of her career, Alia said, "My initial response to it was very defensive because I just felt like, you know, I work hard, so why the question?" However, Alia said, "With time and with age, you realise that there's a lot of struggle in the world and there is a case to be made in acknowledging the headstart and acknowledging I had an easier path to get into the room."

On the movie front, Alia will next appear alongside Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar's next directorial movie Jee Le Zaraa. She recently made her Hollywood debut with Heart of Stone.