Alia Bhatt Birthday: Is The Alpha, Love And War Actress The Most Female Star In Bollywood Currently? Experts Answer

Alia Bhatt stepped into the Hindi film industry with the 2012 coming-of-age drama Student Of The Year. Powering through a turbulent debut, the actress, who is celebrating her 32nd birthday today, has since then featured in pan-Indian movies, box office blockbusters and some out-of-the-common, low-budget releases. 13 years and movies later, trade experts and industry insiders opine if Alia Bhatt has proved her mantle as the most bankable actress in the Hindi film industry.

Shanaya to Satya: A look at Alia Bhatt's filmography

Following her illustrious debut with Dharma's Student of The Year, Alia Bhatt chose the road less taken with the Imtiaz Ali directorial Highway. She played a character suffering from Stockholm syndrome, when she was all 21-years-old. Soon after this, she went the romantic-comedy way with films like 2 States (2014), Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), Shaandaar (2015) and Kapoor and Sons (2016), all happening in quick succession. Out of these, her performance as a small-town girl in Humpty Sharma Ki Duhania (a stark contrast from her Shanaya in SOTY) became an audience favourite.

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In 2016, the actress shined again, in an ensemble film - Udta Punjab. The Abhishek Chaubey directorial also featured Kareena Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh and Shahid Kapoor, and served as somewhat ‘experimental’ project for Alia, as she had not tapped the genre before this. In the following years, she impressed the audience again with Dear Zindagi and Badri Ki Dulhania. In 2018, Alia Bhatt headlined Raazi, the first film that featured her as a true protagonist. While the movie performed averagely at the box office, the actress' performance was highly acclaimed.
 

With Gully Boy (2019), Kalank (2019) and Sadak 2 (2020), the actress again proved that she can dabble with different genres. Her breakthrough performance came in 2022 with the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film Gangubai Kathiawadi. A film in which Alia Bhatt was the solo lead and won her maiden National award. This was followed by a brief appearance in RRR (2022), her production debut Darlings and Brahamastra (2022) in which she shared screen for the first time with her now husband, Ranbir Kapoor. Most recently, the actress was seen in Jigra (2024). The film did not perform well at the box office and the actress' performance was highly criticised. The film's release also reignited conversation about nepotism, which Alia Bhatt has been accused of time and again.

Is Alia Bhatt the best in Bollywood? 

After a decent career in the Hindi film industry, Alia Bhatt has surely left a mark as one of the most popular stars. However, does this translate into box office success? Film trade analyst Sumit Kadel tells us, “Alia Bhatt is undoubtedly the most bankable star of her generation. With 2 States, Raazi, and Gangubai Kathiawadi crossing ₹100 Cr solely on her shoulders, she stands unmatched in the last decade, way ahead of her contemporaries.” However, Alia is not the only actress delivering box office biggies. Deepika Padukone's recent movies like - Fighter, Jawan, Pathan, Singham Again and Kalki 2898AD have all been blockbusters and have become the highest Bollywood grossers of all time. It may be noted though that all these films were multi-starrers.  

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Drawing a comparison of Alia Bhatt with her contemporaries, trade analyst Girish Johar mentioned, “Alia is 'one of the most' bankable stars. There are other actresses also, who can take a good opening at the box office and have their own set of fan following. Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut are examples of the same. There is Kiara Advani also, they have a huge fan following. In fact, down South, there are Nayanthara, Sai Pallavi, and Samantha.” It is also important to note that at the Indian cinema is in a transformative phase where North and South film industries have been in increasing collaboration. In such a time, Alia Bhatt has not appeared in any ‘pan-India’ film (barring RRR, where she had a small role). In this domain, her peers like Deepika Padukone, Kiara Advani, Jhanvi Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra have an upper hand.

Love And War and Alpha - Alia Bhatt's big bets

Alia Bhatt's last two performances - Jigra and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, were not received as positively as one would hope. However, the actress is looking to overturn that with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love And War and YRF's Alpha in the pipeline. Movie critic and business analysts calls the two projects the ‘most important’ in Bollywood right now and shared, “The kind of films Alia is associated with, especially, SLB's Love and War with Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal, is one the biggest projects in the industry right now. She also had Alpha, which is a part of the spy universe, it is another important film. She is at the top of her career right now. She is a brilliant actress. " He also appreciated the actress for shouldering movies like Raazi and Gangubai and said, "It requires a lot of courage. A lot of people take the safe route by doing 2-3 hero projects or taking up roles that they are not that important in. It is very rare for an actor to say, 'Let me shoulder the responsibility. That is what is important, to take those challenges. Everyone needs to take a step forward. It does not help to be a part of a multi-starrer. Then you are just one of those people in the film."  

Calling Alia ‘top leagues’, Girish Johar mentioned, "She (Alia) is among the top league stars in the country, today." Talking about her film choices, he said, “She, at her position, has taken up different kinds of roles and she has the capability of carrying the film on her shoulders." While Love and War is a multi-starrer, Alpha is the first female spyverse film that also features Sharwari Wagh. The coming years remain crucial for Alia Bhatt to prove whether she is the top of her class.