Happy Birthday, Alia Bhatt. Shaandaar@28

Alia Bhatt - enough said. Alia Bhatt has featured in diverse set of roles ranging from making her debut with a fashionista college student in Student Of The Year to playing a rebel in Gully Boy. On her 28th birthday, let's take a look at her life and career so far.

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt

Alia was born on March 15, 1993 to producer-director Mahesh Bhatt and his second wife, actress Soni Razdan. She is the half-sister of actors Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt and the niece of producer Mukesh Bhatt. Actor Emraan Hashmi and director Mohit Suri are her cousins.

Images instagrammed by Soni Razdan and Alia Bhatt

Alia always wanted to become a Bollywood star, as she confessed on Koffee With Karan. At six, she did a cameo as she played the younger version of Preity Zinta in the 1999 film Sangharsh.

Unlike her sister Pooja, there was no readymade launch pad in the form of a Mahesh Bhatt film for Alia. Instead, she made her debut as a lead actress in Karan Johar's 2012 hit Student Of The Year opposite fellow Bollywood rookies Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.

Alia was then cast as Veera, a rich girl kidnapped and taken on a road trip which turns out to be a journey of self-discovery, in Imtiaz Ali's Highway. The film released in February 2014 to rave reviews and Alia's performance was singled out for praise.

Alia also began forging a parallel career as a playback singer in 2015. She made her debut as a singer with the song Sooha Saha in Highway. Composer AR Rahman was so impressed with her rendition that he insisted that she should continue her vocal training at his institute.

On the same day Highway released, the first look of Alia's next film 2 States was released on Twitter. The movie, produced by Karan Johar, is based on a bestselling novel written by Chetan Bhagat. Alia won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her stellar performance in Highway.

Alia was next seen opposite Varun Dhawan in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, where she played a bride-to-be from Ambala who decides to go to Delhi to buy an expensive bridal designer lehenga. Alia sang the unplugged version of Main Tenu Samjhawan Ki in the film.

In 2015, Alia featured in Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar, co-starring Shahid Kapoor. The film did not perform well at the box office.

In 2016, Alia featured in films like Shakun Batra's Kapoor And Sons, co-starring Sidharth Malhotra and Fawad Khan and the critically acclaimed Udta Punjab, for which she won the Filmfare Best Actress award. She also had a cameo in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Alia wrapped the year with Shah Rukh Khan's Dear Zindagi, in which she played a bubbly cinematographer - Kiara.

Alia kicked off 2017 with the sequel of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania - Badrinath Ki Dulhania, also starring Varun Dhawan.

This image was posted on Instagram by Alia Bhatt

2018 was an exceptionally great year for Alia Bhatt with the addition of critically-acclaimed film Raazi, directed by Meghna Gulzar, on her resume. Raazi performed quite well at the box office too.

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt

In 2019, Alia Bhatt co-starred with Ranveer Singh in Gully Boy. She played the role of a rebellious medicine student. Though Gully Boy belonged to Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt was quite a scene stealer in the Zoya Akhtar-directed film.

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt

Next, Alia starred in Kalank, co-starring Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapur. The film is directed by Abhishek Verman and produced by Karan Johar.

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt

Last year, Alia Bhatt co-starred with Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapur in Sadak 2, which was helmed by her father Mahesh Bhatt.

Alia Bhatt has an impressive list of upcoming movies lined up - she will be seen in Brahmastra with her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. Brahmastra is a trilogy, the first part of which is slated for release this year. The Brahmastra series is being directed by Ayan Mukherji.

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt will also be seen in the role of a mafia queen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Alia Bhatt will also be seen in SS Rajamouli's upcoming film RRR, the cast of which is headlined by Ram Charan and Jr NTR.

This image was posted on Twitter by RRR Movie

Here's wishing Alia Bhatt a very happy birthday!

This image was posted on Instagram byAlia Bhatt