Alia Bhatt credits Sanjay Leela Bhansali for discovering her character in Gangubai Kathiawadi : Bollywood News

This year could be considered the year of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt. Be it professional or personal, the actress bagged a bunch of memorable moments that she will cherish for life. Among others was the release of her first collaboration with renowned filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gangubai Kathiawadi. Given that she comes from a “protected” background, her performance left fans impressed. However, the process of becoming Gangubai for the film was not so easy for the actress.

Alia Bhatt credits Sanjay Leela Bhansali for discovering her character in Gangubai Kathiawadi

In her recent conversation with Variety, Alia Bhatt opened up on going outside her comfort zone for Gangubai Kathiawadi. When asked how she prepared for it, she asserted, “The Kamathipura set was the first time I’d walked the streets of that area. I’d not even gone and done that kind of research that you physically can go and do in these areas because that opportunity also never came about, it just never happened. So my knowledge was all Sir’s knowledge, my understanding was all Sir’s understanding. So the process of discovering Gangubai all happened through conversation through Sir’s lens, and a lot of conversation.”

Elaborating further, the Highway actress added, “I saw a couple of documentaries that he asked me to see — he said, “watch this film for this moment, watch this film for that section.” He just kept feeding me with inspiration and information. And I’m very much like a sponge — if I hang out with a person for a full day by the end of the day I land up speaking like that person. So I would just soak everything in. And that became our process just very naturally.”

Concluding her take on the same, the Darlings actress said, “I don’t like to sort of break down process or talk about process because I feel like art it’s not like science. It doesn’t have a method to it, you can have a method to your discipline and to the way you approach your work, but at the end of the day imbibing a personality or behaving or talking or feeling doesn’t have a process. My conversations with Sir, experiencing the world through his eyes, became my process.”

On the professional front, the 29-year-old actress was last seen in Brahmastra, starring her husband and actor Ranbir Kapoor. Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the fantasy adventure was released on September 9, and set several records.

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