Imtiaz Ali Reveals Alia Bhatt Was Not His First Choice For ‘Highway’, ‘Aishwarya Without Makeup…’

‘Highway’ strengthened Alia Bhatt’s identity as an actress. However, its director, Imtiaz Ali, revealed that his first choice for the role was Aishwarya Rai.

Imtiaz Ali is one of the most prominent filmmakers in Bollywood. He is known for making films on fresh themes and has a more serious approach to filmmaking. The director has produced successful films like Rockstar, Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, and more. At the same time, he gave meaningful career hits to stars like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, and Alia Bhatt. But in a recent interview, the filmmaker shared that Alia Bhatt wasn’t the first choice for his film, Highway. However, the actress made the filmmaker change his mind.

Imtiaz Ali reveals Alia Bhatt wasn’t his first choice to cast in Highway

Imtiaz Ali’s Highway is about a young bride-to-be who gets kidnapped. She is initially scared but later finds a new meaning to life after being held captive. Alia played the role of that ‘bride-to-be’ in an impressive manner. It was her second film and was a breakthrough performance in her career. It was a critical and commercial success, and Alia’s performance impressed everyone. However, the filmmaker wasn’t considering casting her in the first place.

Imtiaz recently appeared on Mid-Day’s Sit With Hitlist series and recalled when he was casting for Highway. The filmmaker shared that he wanted to cast a more mature woman in the film. He mentioned Aishwarya Rai and said she could have been a great choice without makeup. However, he never approached her. Imtiaz was quoted as saying:

“I always wanted to cast a slightly elder, like a woman of at least 30. I didn’t want to cast a more mature woman who’s had experiences of the type that she was going to talk about in the film. Aishwarya Rai without any makeup would be a great choice.”

Imtiaz Ali shared he met Alia Bhatt at a film’s screening and decided to cast her in Highway

In the same conversation, Imtiaz shared that he went to the screening of Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana in 2012 while preparing for Highway. At the screening, he met Alia Bhatt, who was relatively young then. Although her debut film, Student Of The Year, was released a month before, he hadn’t seen it. So, he didn’t know about Alia’s acting potential. Imtiaz further added that when he met Alia, he realised she had an emotional depth that he was looking for in the lead actress for Highway. As a result, he decided to give her a chance. In his words:

“I didn’t want a young person in the film, but after meeting her, I realised that what I was looking for was the emotional depth, which this little girl has.”

Imtiaz recalled his unit was not convinced that Alia could play the part In Highway

In a previous conversation with Mukesh Chhabra on Mashable India, Imtiaz shared that even his film unit was not convinced whether Alia could play the part. However, he gave Alia the script for a film and some time to read it. Later, he asked her to narrate the story in her way to the team. Ultimately, everyone was convinced she was the right person for the role. He said:

“Alia was a very unexpected actor for Highway and the unit was not convinced about how she would do this role. So, to convince them I made her tell the story in her way. By the end, everyone was like nobody else could do this role but Alia.”

Imtiaz Ali and Alia Bhatt’s work front

On the work front, Imtiaz Ali last produced and directed the film, Amar Singh Chamkila, based on the life of musician, Amar Singh Chamkila, starring Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra on Netflix. At the same time, Alia was last seen in her first American film, Heart Of Stone. She will next be seen in the movies, Jigra and Alpha.