- Alia recently recalled Mahesh Bhatt turning a simple spelling lesson into a dramatic childhood memory.
- She has described her father as a larger-than-life, unconventional parent who was not around in the traditional sense.
- Mahesh encouraged Alia to embrace failure rather than fear it when she began acting.
- Alia has repeatedly acknowledged her privilege but said Mahesh never launched her into films.
- Her next major theatrical release is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, scheduled for January 21, 2027.
For Alia Bhatt, some of her memories of growing up with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt sound less like ordinary family anecdotes and more like scenes from one of his films.
At a recent special screening of her mother Soni Razdan’s Om Ka Hari, Alia recalled one such moment from first grade. She was nervous about a spelling test and worried she would forget how to spell “the.” Instead of simply helping her memorize the word, Mahesh turned the lesson into a dramatic performance. Alia remembered him making an exaggerated gesture to make sure the spelling stayed in her memory, describing him as a “grizzly bear” who was “highly theatrical and highly entertaining.”
The story is revealing because it captures the version of Mahesh Bhatt that Alia has described in interviews over the years: expressive, unconventional and often more interested in creating a memorable experience than following the conventional rules of parenting.
Her latest anecdote also came while she was discussing Om Ka Hari, a film centered on the complicated relationship between a father and son. The timing made her childhood memory particularly fitting, the film itself explores generational differences, disagreements, expectations and the things families struggle to express.
Mahesh Bhatt was never the 'regular dad' in Alia’s childhood
Alia has previously spoken about having an unusual relationship with her father because of his demanding filmmaking career.
In a 2017 interview with Hindustan Times, she recalled that Mahesh felt almost like a “star” during her childhood because she would see him only occasionally while he was busy working. She remembered visiting his sets and, at one point, telling him that they did not spend enough time together. His solution was characteristically simple and unconventional: he played Snakes and Ladders with her—and, according to Alia, he was extremely competitive about winning.
Mahesh himself acknowledged that he was never a “textbook dad.” Rather than trying to follow conventional ideas about family life, he said he believed children learned more from what parents did than from what they said. He also described family as a space where people had to accept each other’s shortcomings and vulnerabilities.
That philosophy appears to have stayed with Alia.
From childhood drama to lessons about failure
Mahesh’s influence on Alia’s acting career was not primarily about handing her opportunities. In fact, Alia has repeatedly clarified that he did not launch her.
She made her Hindi-film debut in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year in 2012 after auditioning for the role. Alia has said that while her family background made her naturally inclined toward the film industry, her father never told her that he would give her a film when she decided to become an actor. She has also acknowledged the privilege that came with being born into a film family.
What Mahesh did provide was a very different kind of preparation.
Before Alia began shooting Student of the Year, she experienced a panic attack. When she called her father crying and shaking, she expected comfort. Instead, Mahesh asked her to come to his office, where he made her stand in front of a group of people and talk about what she was feeling.
Alia initially thought the response was harsh. But she later said that it helped her normalize the fear and understand that such anxiety could accompany the profession. Mahesh also repeatedly told her that she needed to experience failure and that failure was not something to be ashamed of.
For an actor, that lesson can be particularly significant. Instead of teaching Alia to avoid mistakes, he encouraged her to experience them.
Mahesh Bhatt saw the actor beyond the glamour
Alia’s early career could easily have remained centered on the glamorous image introduced in Student of the Year. But her choices quickly moved in another direction.
After her debut, she worked with Imtiaz Ali in Highway, followed by films such as 2 States, Udta Punjab, Dear Zindagi, Raazi, Gully Boy, Gangubai Kathiawadi and Jigra. Her career increasingly moved between commercial cinema and more performance-driven roles.
Mahesh has publicly acknowledged that evolution. In a 2024 interview, he described her performance in Student of the Year as being far removed from the actor she eventually became, while highlighting her work in Highway and Udta Punjab as performances that particularly affected him.
Years earlier, he had also said that Alia had successfully navigated both sides of Hindi cinema: serious, unconventional performances as well as mainstream entertainment.
That perhaps explains the more complicated role Mahesh has played in her career. He was not the filmmaker who gave Alia her big break. But he was the father who, by her own accounts, taught her to live with fear, accept failure and keep pushing herself.
The father-daughter dynamic behind the actor
There is also an interesting contradiction in Alia’s recollections of Mahesh.
On one hand, she has spoken about his physical absence and the unconventional nature of their relationship. On the other, the memories she chooses to share are often intensely vivid: visiting his sets, playing games with him, watching his theatrical teaching methods and calling him when she was afraid before her first major film.
In another interview, Alia said her father taught her that fear could keep her alert and motivated. She called him her “reality check” and credited him with telling her difficult truths rather than simply reassuring her.
That may be one of the more lasting ways Mahesh Bhatt shaped Alia as an actor—not by deciding which films she should do, but by influencing how she responds to the uncertainty that comes with doing them.
And perhaps the first version of that lesson was learned over something as small as the spelling of “the.”
Who is Mahesh Bhatt?
Mahesh Bhatt is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer whose career has spanned several decades of Hindi cinema. He emerged as a prominent director during the 1980s and 1990s with films including Saaransh, Naam, Daddy, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin and Sadak. He later became an influential producer and mentor to filmmakers and creative talent through Vishesh Films, the production company he co-founded with his brother Mukesh Bhatt.
Saraansh remains one of his most acclaimed films and was selected as India’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1984. His filmmaking has often been associated with personal, emotionally intense and unconventional subjects.
For Alia, however, Mahesh Bhatt is not simply the filmmaker behind those films. He is the father whose larger-than-life personality turned ordinary childhood moments into performances—and whose unconventional lessons eventually became part of the way she approached her own life in front of the camera.
What’s next for Alia Bhatt?
Alia’s latest theatrical release was Alpha, the Yash Raj Films spy thriller in which she starred alongside Sharvari, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The film released worldwide in theaters on July 3, 2026.
She is also associated with Don’t Be Shy, which she co-produces with her sister Shaheen Bhatt. The coming-of-age film is scheduled to premiere on Prime Video on September 26, 2026.
Her next major theatrical project is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, starring Alia alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal. The film completed filming in September 2026 and is scheduled for a theatrical release on January 21, 2027.
Beyond that, Tumbbad 2 is listed among her future projects, while other projects have been announced or reported at different stages of development.
