Happy Birthday Alia Bhatt: 6 films that made the actress a star among the millennials

She is just 25 years old. But in a span of 6 years, Alia Bhatt has carved a niche for herself in the Hindi film industry. One of the very few actresses who has experimented with varied films and roles, Alia, from a young age - she made her debut at 19- has steered clear of doing stereotypical roles.

From an urban girl suffering from depression in Dear Zindagi, to a Bihari immigrant who fights the odds to break free in Udta Punjab, Alia has never stuck to tried and tested roles and tried to take up films that are vastly different from each other.

in her 25th year, she has much to look forward to. She is playing a spy in Meghna Gulzar's Raazi, she is part of Ayan Mukherji's futuristic Brahmastra and Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy.

On her birthday, here is a look back at the films that made her the star that she is.

Highway: After a very glamorous debut in Karan Johar's Student Of The Year, no one would have ever thought that Alia Bhatt was capable enough to pull off a difficult role of Veera in Imtiaz Ali's Highway. Highway was a film that dealt with uncomfortable issues, and it required a certain amount of maturity to pull off the role with ease and Alia restraint performance won hearts.

Udta Punjab: Perhaps the most difficult role for Alia's career, it had her playing a Bihari immigrant in Punjab who is held captive and raped repeatedly by her kidnappers. To bear the pain she gets addicted to drugs and how after months of withstanding abuse, she breaks free and escapes. The powerful film had other credible performances as well from Shahid Kapoor, Diljit Dosanjh and Kareena Kapoor- but it is Alia who stood out the most. For an urban girl, to understand her character and the hardships that she goes through- Alia showed amazing maturity while performing the role.