"Yes, I will do the film as I love the concept," - Alia Bhatt On Aashiqui 3!

She is clearly riding high on the success of her latest hit, Badrinath Ki Dulhania (BKD) making over Rs 100 crore at the box office. As Alia Bhatt prepares to start work on a new lot of films, the actor says she isn’t “looking at only acting.” Here, the 24-year-old talks about career, life, marriage and more.

In 2016, you had three releases, and right in the first quarter of 2017 you’ve had another release. Does it become hectic?

Technically speaking, it’s a new year but my last release was in November (last year) itself. Although I started promoting BKD two months before, in February, on a personal level, it was almost as if things were in continuation. But somewhere, it has also hit me that it (new film) is probably my only release this year, which is why I made sure that it gets a lot of attraction. So, I did all that I could to push the film throughout the country. That’s the only way it could have reached the interiors of the country.

You are the ‘dulhania’ in your latest film (Badrinath Ki Dulhania). Sticking with that thought, is marriage somewhere on your mind?

I do want to settle down early (in life) because I have an advantage of having started off (in career) very early. That way (getting married), I can get done with it and continue (in my career). Also, I don’t want to settle down too late in life because that also has its own issues. But honestly, I’m not thinking about it or planning as of now.

But the age-old perception persists that marriage means a full stop to an actresses’ career?

Earlier, we used to say that an actresses’ shelf life lasts only until she gets married. But I don’t think that’s true anymore. That has completely changed, especially with the way Bebo (Kareena Kapoor Khan) has gone about her marriage and even her pregnancy. Even after getting married, she did really well in a few tough films. And now, although she delivered (a baby) a few months back, she is readying to get back to shooting. I think that’s the way it should be for an actor. You shouldn’t stop acting just because you settle down, and I also don’t plan to go that way.

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At 24, how do you see your career panning out?

At this point, I can say that I am not looking at only acting. I am also trying to work on things that are not going to eat into my time and effort that I put in as an actor. If I associate myself with a creative field in any other way also, I will be happy. Of course, acting is my first love but I will make sure that I do other things also to constantly nurture my mind.

In terms of films, what’s next?

I will start shooting for Dragon first and then Zoya Akhtar’s film (Gully Boy). Dragon isn’t going to be shot at a stretch anyways. We will begin once Ranbir (Kapoor) wraps up Dutt. So, in the meantime, Ayan (Mukerji; director of Dragon) is prepping. I am super excited. Both are mad but they are also talented and are very different from one another. Plus, both the films are also very disparate.

What’s happening to Aashiqui 3 that is supposed to feature Sidharth Malhotra and you? Are you doing the film?

They have been working on the script. Yes, I will do the film as I love the concept, but they have to get the script so that we can talk in a concrete manner. We just can’t shoot whatever we want. It’s something we are looking at doing for sure. So, my sister (Shaheen Bhatt; writer of the film’s script) is to be blamed for it (laughs). But she is also working on two-three other things (scripts).

When you are working on back-to-back films, how do you manage maddening promotions? Do you love them?

Yes, I love it, and especially for the right film. For a film like Udta Punjab (2016), maybe, I would not do the same amount of promotions that I did for Badrinath Ki Dulhania (BKD). Also, we didn’t need to because anyway, there was so much happening around it (Udta Punjab), so we didn’t have to do anything. But for a film like BKD, we wanted to penetrate throughout the country and reach everywhere – the heartland, the smallest as well as biggest cities and to the utmost corner too. We wanted to reach everywhere because it was that kind of a universal film.

So, you have started enjoying promotions?

Earlier, maybe, I would be like, ‘oh, promotions are like this and that’ but now I have really learnt to love it and I also love the frenzy. Even though it’s exhausting while we are in the middle of it, it’s such a great high when you are promoting your film. You work really hard to make sure that it gets the attention that it deserves.

Apparently, you and Varun Dhawan are called ‘Tom and Jerry’.

People call us a lot of things (laughs). I just hope that I am Tom. Even though Tom is the one who gets bullied a lot but I like being a cat. We keep fighting but we also make up immediately, but that’s also because we know each other from the first day of us being actors (they made their debut with Student Of The Year; 2012). So, we have a comfort level where we can say whatever we want (to each other).