She left the audience spellbound in Udta Punjab, and is mesmerising them once again as a cinematographer in the recent release Dear Zindagi. Alia Bhatt speaks to us about her selection of scripts and being a compulsive storyteller.

Talking about her recent non-glamourous roles, the 23-year-old shares, “I am glad I got to act in films like Dear Zindagi and Udta Punjab because I want to fit into every mould. But that doesn’t mean I will not do glamorous roles. I grew up watching Karishma Kapoor and Govinda dancing around trees! I aspired to become an actress watching all that glamour. And most importantly, my career started with one such role.”

The actress finds both glam and de-glam roles equally challenging. She says, “I like doing off-beat flicks but I would like to do other films as well. My father once told me that people keep saying ‘I want to do something out-of-the-box’ and asked me if I knew what was in that box. ‘Have you been inside the box that you want to know what is outside it?’.”

She says that she selects films based on her connect with the story as she loves to narrate stories. “I was called a liar in my school days by friends because I would make up stories. I was an obsessive narrator. Stories have always been an integral part of my life and I instantly connect with them. I believe that I am able to justify a role only because I connect with the story and the character,” she shares. Alia, whose character in Dear Zindagi is seen dealing with break-ups, says that “there is no fixed formula to get over a break-up in life.” She says, “It is a very clichéd thing to say but just like the wounds on our body that heal over time, the heart too heals on its own. It is just that us humans are very impatient and want to fix the pain quickly without feeling it.” Probe her on her personal formula and she quickly reveals, “I take a holiday or talk to a friend... Not that I have had a lot of breakups but I have had my share.”

Does she have an idea of an ideal man in mind? “There is no such thing as an ideal guy! It is actually the way you feel for a person. One thing is a must for me though — a great sense of humour,” she says.

Her character Kaira in Dear Zindagi garnered appreciation and apparently Alia is a lot like her: “I relate to Kaira more than any character I have essayed so far. I think a lot of young people will relate to her too. She has a lot of insecurities to overcome. She is moody, so am I. However, I am not as impulsive as she is but yes I related to the way she thinks.”