There are people all over world who know me only because of the jokes on me: Alia

Mumbai: Alia Bhatt has always wanted to be a star. Though the launch of her career was fairly smooth, the actress had to weather her share of storms — including her President of India debacle. 

In conversation with Anshul Chaturvedi at the International Film Festival of India, the actress admitted that she has learned to take the lows in her stride.

“There are people all over the world who know me only because of this debacle. I was at Singapore Airport and the staff there said they know me. I thought maybe they’d seen one of my films but they said they really like my jokes. I guess at the end of the day, I’m just glad that I made someone happy,” she said.

She confessed right at the start of the conversation to being a very moody person. “I have at least seven personalities. There’s the person I am with my parents, the person I am with my friends, the person I am when I meet someone for the first time, when I am at a party and I don’t want to party, when I do want to party, when I am at work and doing things very seriously, and when I am at work and taking things lightly.” 

Parental support has always been a part of her life and she talked about the bond shared with her father, Mahesh Bhatt. On being asked how much of his feedback she listens to, Alia said, “He always has pointers for me after he watches a film. He’ll say, ‘You did really well in this scene’ or ‘The actor overpowered you too much in that scene’. But it’s before talk shows and interviews that he really gets excited,” giggled the actress.

On a more serious note, Alia, like many others in the film industry, lent her support to the Padmavati team, and said, “I said this in my tweet, and I say it again, it’s not just Padmavati, but it is this entire trend of protesting against films that I have a problem with. Let the film release first. There is such a thing as creative licence. Just as you have your right to your opinion, I also have my right to expression.”