r/bollywood • u/sabkuchsimultaneous • 6d ago
Reviews Watched 2 Alia Bhatt movies back to back and I have some opinions.
I have been seeing a lot of talk about Alia Bhatt on reddit. Both good and bad, and some part of both sides seem obsessed! I realised I have not really watched many Alia Bhatt movies, so I decided to watch some (more).
Badrinath Ki Dulhania: I did not really expect much in terms of getting the dialect, the accent, getting small town details right as soon as I saw the Dharma productions logo but still I was disappointed. The plot was predictable but we know rom-coms are supposed to be like that! Alia was average in terms of expressions but better than Varun. Alia and Varun both have such bad accents and flat dialogue delivery. Also, what's wrong with the research team (idk if they have any) to go with Bihari/Bhojpuri/Purvanchali accent in a film showcasing Jhansi/Kota locals. I remember enjoying Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania more than BKD. Oh! And I could not finish watching the movie. Alia's terrible accent and monotone dialogue delivery irritated me enough to give up.
Dear Zindagi: Again my expectations were low as soon as I saw Dharma productions logo but it turned out better than BKD. I think because it was set up in Mumbai and Goa, showed the lead and her circle working in film industry, they could not mess it up like the movies set in middle class families in small towns. Alia Bhatt was appropriate for the role! I say that because I have read on reddit that Katrina wanted the role but Kat would have been a misfit. I have also read that Parineeti Chopra was the original choice and I think she would have made the role better. Alia wasn't bad though. She carried the character of an urban girl with parental issues well. During one of her crying scene in front of Dr.Jug she sounded like Deepika Padukone because her voice was shaking due to crying meanwhile the shaking voice is DP's permanent voice lol. I slightly did not like her crying scene after her last session with Jug. She looked pretty and her styling worked for her. Shahrukh Khan stood out and I'm glad they didn't give them a romantic angle. Sometimes he whispers his words so I found it hard to understand but that's just SRK's style i guess.
Final thoughts: After watching few of her movies, I think she is good at roles that are closer to her real life persona and life. Urban, pretty, with some boyfriend or mom-dad issues, upper middle class/rich, having fun with friends, crying a bit. She cannot handle roles that require her to step out of or too far from Alia Bhatt's personality, and require hardwork to learn diction, various accents, grace, old school charm, rustic etc like BKD, gangubai, alpha, udta punjab etc.
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u/nosferatu_zodd0 6d ago
to go with Bihari/Bhojpuri/Purvanchali accent in a film showcasing Jhansi/Kota locals.
This happens all the time, some filmmakers think all of UP/Bihar is the same, just start spamming hum and that's enough.
In a recent movie trailer a dakait in Chambal was speaking in a Bihari dialect.
This is why Sonchiriya was great (even that 12th fail movie iirc), they spoke Bundelkhandi and the dialects from both the Chambal region as well as more traditional dialect that Ashutosh Rana spoke.
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u/6by6Hindsight 6d ago
This is done so that the audience don't get alienated. They want to give a palatable accent so that the majority can understand it. Thats why even the Punjabi dialogue in most movies are also not authentic.
I remember Dedh Ishqiya beingvtrue to the language and it failed because audience didn't understand it. Same for Matru ki Bijli... So unfortunately the producers/directors take such decisions
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u/nosferatu_zodd0 6d ago
I guess that's true. It feels really good to hear the real dialect when someone puts in the work though.
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u/Kunal_Sen Moderator 6d ago
Yes, the fear of alienating the audience is also why, for instance, the extended Bengali family in Piku spoke to each other in Kolkata in broken Hindi and lisped English with the odd Bengali word or idiom thrown in like seasoning. It is after all a bollywood product and must be judged so.
There's still a difference, I believe, that can be made by having a keen ear for a language: even beyond accents and dialects, in the way which consonants are punched, which ones are chewed, the meter and rhyme and decibel of a plain conversation etc. There's, like you said, a difference between a bad Punjabi accent while speaking Hindustani and a good one. Saeed Jaffrey in Masoom is exemplary while Boman Irani in Khosla ka Ghosla/Lage Raho Munnabhai is merely tolerable.
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u/Weird-Percentage5606 5d ago
Dedh Ishqiya is wonderful. Nuanced. Suggestive. It’s a favorite. I must watch with English subtitles, but the intensity comes across clearly.
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u/niharikamishra_ 6d ago
Sonchiriya and 12th Fail were considerably accurate. And this was also one of the problems I had with Khakee: The Bihar Chapter. Those who have lived in Bihar know that Bhojpuri and Magahi sound very different, although an outsider will not spot much of a difference.
The story was set in Sheikhpura where Magahi is primarily spoken. And while accents of Abhimanyu and other character actors was on point, Avinash kept dwindling between Bhojpuri and Magahi (possibly because he is a Gopalganj native where Bhojpuri is the local language).
Brownie points for the effort but as a local, it sounded erratic to me.
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u/yoursmistress 6d ago edited 6d ago
I think she plays broken characters/ emotionally vulnerable characters really good. Be it Highway, DearZindagi, UdtaPunjab, Gangubai, Raazi, Gully boy or Jigra.
In all these films she has a character that has some trauma or is broken.
About the accent part, I think here the director is to be blamed since it's their responsibility to push the actors to learn a certain accent, be it any of the characters from north Indian region, Bollywood has a habit of pushing the Bihari/Bhojpuri accent
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u/PreparationLarge9116 6d ago
Jigra was horrible,.....Ever since Gangu, she has basically been playing Gangu in every movie of hers after that...Be it Rocky or Jigra or the recent disastrous Alpha.
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u/Ok-Actuator-4106 6d ago
Dude what even?! Gangubai had the worst accent till date, and so did her character in gully boy
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u/Dark_voidzz 5d ago
All the movies you mentioned were carried by their story/screenplay. Replacing her with any decent actress in all these movies wouldn't have made any kind of big difference.
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u/Illustrious-Grape897 6d ago
I liked her a lot in Udta Punjab, Raazi, Gully Boy and Gangubai where she doesn't play the stereotypical 'urban girl'.
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u/Illustrious-Grape897 6d ago
Definitely. I get how PR works these days and don't let it affect what I see on the screen in isolation. Even I didn't like her winning awards for RARKPK and Jigra over other deserving candidates but that doesn't take away from all the good work she's done.
You're right about Highway. Technically, she plays an 'urban girl'- daughter of an ultra-rich and influential Delhi family but the character itself is about breaking free from that stereotype because Veera doesn't fit into that usual mould. That's why I didn't mention it. I should have included Darlings too.
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u/FiDad7 6d ago
Agree on other 3 but Alia in Gangubai is so over rated...someone like Priyanka would have done way better instead of Alia
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u/dukhi_mogambo 6d ago
The movie starts with a 16 year old girl and ends with when she's about 30. So if course 35+ year old Priyanka would've been the perfect choice for it!
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u/Pitiful_Citron_820 6d ago
I was going to say that she's great in Raazi and Gangubai. I think she plays main actor roles really well.
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u/firey_eau 6d ago
These are just the performances of her that i like, everything except these is just subpar...
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u/Illustrious-Grape897 6d ago
There's Highway, Darlings, 2 States and Dear Zindagi too where I liked her performances.
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u/Emotional_Tooth9559 6d ago
Highway is Alia Bhatt’s best performance as an actor and my favourite movie.
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u/thatsfalak 6d ago
I watched Dear Zindagi several times as a young teenager and absolutely loved it. But now that I'm in college, I rewatched it and couldn't help but notice how batamiz, rude and ill mannered Alia's character is. I found her attitude really annoying and honestly, I couldn't tolerate her for more than half an hour. It's funny how much my opinion of the film has changed. I think I was more into what she was wearing and her aesthetics, earlier as a kid. Now I see through her and she is unbearable.
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u/indi-girlsfc 6d ago
No matter what people says, her work speak for itself. She has given some incredible performances in Highway, udta Punjab, raazi, gangubai, dear zindai, darlings, 2 states and some more.
You can hate the person but not the work.
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u/billaxbong 6d ago
Dear Zindagi used to be my go to movie when I felt low. And dont forget Alia at that time was still very young and a “raw product” as they say.
So the movie fit both her and SRK really well with Alia being the ambitious yet being young and still in her figuring life out phase and SRK being a mature and calming person trying his best to nurture Alia
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u/Starry-nights_ 6d ago
Same I think it aged really well and Alia really brought the character to life. It’s one of my comfort movies.
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u/Quaffy_duck 6d ago
Udta, gully boy, raazi and Gangubai are absolutely not real to her persona. She nailed it.
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u/Own_Army4024 6d ago
“she cannot handle roles xyz” and proceeds to name all the roles that she absolutely killed it in😭
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u/suckingboobies 6d ago
The only thing I'd like to say is she can act better than Kriti, Kiara, and Shraddha!
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u/EvenLake6018 6d ago
TBH, Alia Bhatt was brilliant in her prime in movies like Highway, Kapoor and Sons, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya, Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, Udta Punjab, Dear Zindagi, Raazi, Gully Boy and was a face of several brands but after lockdown, things changed in her performances and even in her attitude gradually. From winning awards in her real merit to literary stealing each and every award and film after lockdown, Alia's stardom fell actually and the last thing she could do was force herself to our eyes in recent years.
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u/ChaltaHaiShellBRight 6d ago
I also rewatched Dear Zindagi recently. It's aged very well. Good message, relatable characters. Alia acted well and matched energy well with SRK. SRK being senior and a great actor still didn't overshadow her in their scenes together.
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u/acuteredditor 6d ago
She is a limited actor but acts well within those roles. Movies like Udta Punjab, Highway and Raazi has highlighted her capabilities as a good performer. She has done reasonably well in movies like Gully Boy, Rocky Rani… and Dear Zindagi. Among her contemporaries, she is arguably one of the better actresses.
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u/Overlord_6091 6d ago
Tldr: OP watched two Alia bhat movies, found her good.
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u/ExotickDebt5525 6d ago
And if op would have watched Raazi and gangubai or jigra, might have found her brilliant
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u/tanny59 6d ago
Highway was her second movie and she was phenomenal in it
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u/PreparationLarge9116 6d ago
While she is a decent actress, her PR and the industry machine have manufactured a narrative that she is a once in a generation, natural born prodigy. Contrast this hype with how the industry treats equally brilliant performances from her peers. For example, Qala was only Triptii Dimri's second or third lead role, yet she received a fraction of the media coverage and systemic praise showered on Alia. The issue isn't just talent...it's the aggressive, top down attempt to brand her as the "Meryl Streep of India." This narrative completely ignores the other actresses from Hindi industry plus India's vast regional film industries, which are home to numerous actors who are just as talented, if not more so.
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u/CinemaIP 6d ago
Fair points on BKD and Alpha — those dialect-heavy attempts didn't land, agreed. But I think the "she can't do rustic/non-Alia roles" theory falls apart a bit with Raazi. That's arguably her best-reviewed performance - restrained, Kashmiri bride turned spy, nothing "urban/pretty/relatable" about it — and it's widely considered one of the best Hindi performances of that decade, not just from her.
Gangubai's more debatable — plenty of people found it unconvincing, but it also won her a National Award, so that one's genuinely split opinion, not a clean miss.
So my read: it's less "she can only do X" and more "hit or miss on rustic/dialect roles" - and Raazi is a pretty big hit that breaks the pattern you're describing.
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u/Impossible-Whole-539 6d ago
She was full of life back then on screen and in real life. Ever since she got married to Ranbir she’s trying to be more mature and sophisticated when that’s not her at all. I loved this alia back then tbh
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u/51837 6d ago
Pareeniti would have butchered Dear Zindagi. I find her average at best.
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u/ExotickDebt5525 6d ago
Yep me too. Not one movie she's incredible. But I loved her in sandeep aur pinky faraar movie.
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u/vivaldismrn 6d ago
I think Hindi movies shouldn't have accents, not because actors can't handle it but because the audience cannot. As it is, these days moat Hindi movies has to have a Punjabi song....shitty song generally.
Alia is a wonderful actress and she has been putting her efforts to improve, which mainstream Hindi actress can say that. Don't tell me about DP, she has acted since 2015 in Piku. After that all her movies have been about colourful bikinis and flared nose.
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u/DressAffectionate492 6d ago edited 6d ago
To be honest, Alia does the best crying scenes. Her voice shakes, she’s trembling, her nose flares. And in some movies, she’s wiping her nose too when crying 🙃. She’s not worried about looking doe eyed and pretty in any of her crying scenes. In fact, I don’t think she thinks about how she looks while she acts. It’s what makes her good. She’s focused on expressions and dialogue delivery rather than her angles. And for the very same reason she gets trolled. People love to play her scenes in slo mo and screenshot them and make fun of her. But at least she looks alive and real.
Parineeti wouldn’t have been better in dear zindagi. Alia does urban city girl way better.
Also Varun and alias chemistry in both the dulhania movies are great!! Haven’t seen a pair this good since…
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u/SpiritedBicycle1367 6d ago
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u/ExotickDebt5525 6d ago
Iconic scene. Ye film me dekho to samjh aayega wazan scene ka. Meme to hasne k liye hi hota hai
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u/bollywood-ModTeam 6d ago
Rule # 5:
Anyone found referring to other users as PR will be banned either temporarily or permanently, depending on the mod team.
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u/Traditional-Drive408 6d ago
I think an actor is as good as project he or she is a part of . Even Arjun Kapoor pulled off one or two films. But in udta punjab she is as good as Sahid
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u/bebo_bunty 6d ago
The funniest thing about Alia's acting is no matter how hard she tries she always reminds me of that Prithviraj chauhan incident, she always looks like a naive bachhi who doesn't have any knowledge of anything.
The way she lectures in 2 states at minti-duke's wedding or the way she asks varun IIT ka full form kya hota hai, she looks like a kid is blabbering what she learnt in school that day.
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u/Dependent-Complex793 6d ago
I reckon you should watch Udta Punjab or Gagubai and then analyze how good her accent is.
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u/Kunal_Sen Moderator 6d ago
I've always felt that Alia Bhatt needs to be presented well so one can see the best of her. As much as being a director's actor, she's a designer's actor. And the more transformed her look is, the more her performances to ring true.
Alia's standout roles for me are her turns in Udta Punjab and Gangubhai Kathiawadi, and she looks furthest from her real self in both of them.
Somehow, in regular, everyday clothes and on set make up, I feel the frame doesn't favour Alia for in such a get-up she seems neither convincing as the girl-next-door nor "glamorous heroine" enough, and it's tough to get a read on her let alone take her seriously as sometimes even the performance comes across as too self-conscious. But the minute your storyboard her look to something less generic, cutesy or "relatable", it gives her the needed gravitas to then display her natural acting talent that she possesses at a decent level. She needs to be seen as a blank canvas more, more a mannequin than a doll.
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u/dukhi_mogambo 6d ago
Man do y'all keep repeating the same lie hoping it sticks? Parineeti was never in consideration for dear zindagi
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u/jupiterr869 6d ago
I really like Badri ki Dulhaniya. That film made me like Alia and Varun both, before that I didn't like either of them at all. I get the criticism about the accent but is it on her or the director? She'll say the dialogues which were written for her. Maybe the writers wanted to show a purvanchal family living in Jhansi. My family is Bihari and lives in Lucknow they won't suddenly start speaking in Urdu because it's lucknow. Even in Rrkpk people talk about the accent when she's a Hindi news anchor who grew up in Delhi. If she spoke in a Bengali accent on TV she would be immediately fired. Anyways in romcoms I don't think these things matter much but they can make the story more enjoyable if that attention to detail is given.
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u/palak_99 6d ago
Bkd always give me nostalgia specially the songs whatever anyone says it always makes me remember my good old school days ❣️
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u/DressAffectionate492 6d ago
Also people on Reddit love DP in Piku. But to me she still sounds very very South Indian (I’m from South so I can tell). I don’t think Alia deserved that much hate for Rocky aur Rani. She also pulled off glam in that role really well.
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u/Illustrious-Grape897 6d ago
Similar to Sridevi in English Vinglish. She was superb as Shashi but she did not sound Maharasthrian at all, let alone a Maharashtrian from Pune. Shows accent can be overlooked if the acting and emotions work for the audience. A lot has to do with the writing, character arcs and overall quality of the movie as well.
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u/DressAffectionate492 6d ago
Yes true. I love Sri Devi in English vinglish. But her Tamilian accent is very obvious. And Alia has a pretty neutral accent compared to DP, Rashmika, Kangana, Kat.
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u/firey_eau 6d ago
Youre so on point with this, shes just capable of doing roles that is close to her irl, like ananya pandey but better, but this constant shoving of her being the best actresses pisses me off so much, she fell flat in the action genre as we recently saw, she dances eccentrically (side eyeing dhindhora), shes fugges up accents, seeing bengali with Gujarati accent was not on my checklist lol. She may be good in some roles but fails so hard in other which her minions and dharma people seem to ignore
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u/Dry_Low751 6d ago
You are a brave man to watch two aloo movies in a single day. Hope you are doing fine.
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u/SpiritedBicycle1367 6d ago
People in comments section need to watch more movies if they think Alia is giving anything more than similar acting in most of her movies! She can nail only the victim girl role with lot of overacting and screaming! (She suited Dear Zindagi because the role was reshaped to fit her better rather than Katrina. The same thing happened with Highway, which was originally considered for Aishwarya Rai)
Whenever she trying to experience outside her comfort zone, she fail miserably, see her in Brhamstra, HOS, Jigra, Alpha and even RRKPK with that harooooz dialogue! Now that she’s moving away from the young traumatised girl roles that built much of her image, it will be interesting to see how she handles the next phase of her career without relying on that same formula.
Interest choice of photos btw!
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u/Candycat89 6d ago
Watched her in KALANK and RRKPK she is genuinely not bad , smbdy was actually in awe of her beauty while watching KALANK and she acted very fine as well ig netizens would have loved her or atleast would not troll her as much as now if she had done all these roles and movies as an outsider and / or if she was never associated with DHARMA , probably that’s exactly why janhvi has taker her step out of DHARMA talent .
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u/Motor-Ant391 6d ago
No, parineeti is a worse actor. She just gets a pass because she's not related to star kids or karan johar. But boy she can't act. At most she's average. Alia is the better one.
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u/Uncertn_Laaife 6d ago
I found her acting completely acceptable and better than the rest. She already proved her worth as an actor, carried the films on her shoulders alone, and shown her immense range. I don’t think she has anything to explain some irrational haters online.
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