Two years of ‘Gully Boy’: Alia Bhatt attended workshops for the first time

By the time Alia Bhatt did Gully Boy she had gotten used to being the central character in all her films. In Gully Boy, Ranveer Singh had the main role. Alia  as Safeena his girlfriend had very little screen space. In fact she wasn’t even in the original plot!

In an interview with me just after the release of Gully Boy Alia had said, “Honestly I  don’t have to be at the centre of every film I do. That would be vain and boring. I’d rather be in films that are exciting and challenging  to me as an actor than just think about my own role. In Raazi I was the central character. In Gangubhai Kathiawadi  I  am again the central  character. But in Udta  Punjab and Gully Boy I am not. It was always Ranveer Singh as the central character. And I’m quite okay with that. I am very happy with my role.”

Alia also  spoke to me about how excited she was to work with Zoya Akhtar.  “My director Zoya Akhtar guided me through the role. For the first time in my career I did an acting workshop. I had never done a workshop before. Not even for Raazi.”

Alia says doing Gully Boy was fun. “It was like going to school. Within three days I was talking, walking behaving like Safeena. I was like, ‘Wow this is a load off my shoulder!’ I now realize that if  I’ve a grip on my character beforehand, going on the set  and  playing  the role becomes so much easier. I am definitely going to recommend  doing workshops with  my other  directors. Of course every director has his or her own process. But I will definitely explore character-finding methods with other  directors.”

Alia kept her word. She  diligently attended  acting workshops before beginning work on Sanjay Leela  Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. And yes, this time she is the central character, present  in almost every frame  of  the  film.