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- By Noor Nanji
- culture reporter
Alia Bhatt might be the biggest celebrity you’ve never heard of.
At the age of 30, she became a megastar in Bollywood. For certain people (myself included), she is one of the hottest names out there.
If you’re not interested in Indian movies, there’s no real reason to know about her. Until recently, yes.
Last year, Butt made his Hollywood debut. Suddenly, she was being introduced to a worldwide audience.
Currently, she is supporting a new drama series based on wildlife crime.
“People have the power to make a difference, whether it’s in this industry or any other industry,” she told BBC News.
Bhatt was born into a Bollywood family, to a filmmaker father and an actress mother.
Her mother Soni Razdan was born in Birmingham, England, and Ms. Butt describes herself as British.
Bhatt made his first lead role at the age of 18 and has since acted in dozens of Hindi films.
She currently lives in Mumbai with her actor husband Ranbir Kapoor and their one-year-old daughter.
This pair is one of the power couples of Bollywood. The industry has always been dominated by family dynasties.
Bhatt starred in the romantic comedy Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani in 2023, which was a huge hit at the box office.
A few weeks later, she starred alongside Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot and Fifty Shades actor Jamie Dornan in Netflix’s Heart of Stone, which received mixed reviews.
But it took Bhatt in a direction no other Bollywood star ever went. For example, Shah Rukh Khan, also known as the ‘King of Bollywood’, has never made it to Hollywood, despite having fans all over the world.
We met at a luxury hotel in Mayfair. Bhatt is wearing a black velvet Sabyasachi saree. (Again, you know who you are. Sabyasachi is one of India’s most popular fashion designers.)
Bhatt is in London to attend a preview of Poacher, a new crime drama series that he is executive producing. Based on a true story, the series tells the story of India’s largest ivory poaching ring.
The sale of ivory was banned worldwide in 1989. However, elephant poaching remains a major global problem, and ivory is in high demand as it is seen as a luxury status symbol in some parts of the world.
Batt, an animal lover, was asked to join the series by director Richie Mehta.
“He showed me a few episodes, but I wanted to see more,” she says. “I just love movies and all content that has the power to affect people emotionally and physically and really move them.”
This is not the first time Mr Butt has spoken out for the cause of sustainability and conservation.
She launched her own sustainable clothing brand and won praise last year for re-wearing her wedding sari. She has previously advocated for animal welfare.
“As a society, we have to somehow use our conscience to create things that we want to passionately talk about and passionately support,” she says.
“I’ve always said I don’t have the answers, but I do have questions,” she added. “I’m not saying everything is true, but there’s something in me that wants to know more.”
In the opening scene of The Poacher, an elephant is shot for its tusks.
Butt admits it was “upsetting” to watch. “But it should be upsetting. Then the stakes are very high.”
Emmy Award-winning director Mehta added that this is a very international issue, with implications for the UK as well.
“When you go through Heathrow and you’re waiting in customs, you see traces of what they’ve seized, contraband. And it’s unfathomable. It happens all the time,” he says.
Bollywood, India’s hugely popular Hindi film industry, produces hundreds of films every year and enjoys a huge following among Indians around the world. It’s hard to overstate the influence that movies and stars have on their fans’ imaginations.
However, it is often portrayed as a man’s world.
This has been a topic of discussion for a long time, and last year’s research showed just how little gender equality there is on and off screen.
Over the years, many Bollywood films have been criticized for being regressive and promoting misogyny and gender bias.
Bhatt, who has built a career playing troubled women ranging from sex workers to kidnap victims, insists that things are changing when it comes to representation in Bollywood.
She points to Poacher, which has a female protagonist, a forest worker called Mala Jogi, at the center of the story.
Mala, played by Nimisha Sajayan, did not exist in real life, but Mehta included her when writing the series.
“Nimisha is at the center of the show here, playing Mala Jogi, absolutely outstanding, heroic, doing all the things that men do, but the same things that women do. I’m watching them do it,” Butt says. .
As for Bhatt herself, she is often described as a trailblazer for up-and-coming young women in and outside of Bollywood.
“I want to lead by example and be led by example, as in this case,” she says.
“Poacher” is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Additional reporting by Zarghuna Kargar, Sadia Khan and Amrit Cheema.
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