Alia consciously avoided dad's banner as launch pad

Though Mahesh Bhatt is known for introducing new faces in filmdom, his daughter Alia decided to use Dharma Production's "Student Of The Year" as her launch pad as she was not looking for a convenient entry.

"I was already sorted and decided that I wouldn't be launched by my father's production (Vishesh Films). Honestly speaking, it's the easy option. Why wouldn't my father launch me? But I wanted to go somewhere else. I had to audition for it, I had to lose weight and present myself in a way that I can be accepted," Alia told reporters Thursday.

When she was asked whether by losing weight she was giving competition to much senior Farah Khan, who is also debuting as an actress with "Shirin Farahd Ki Toh Nikal Padi", director Karan Johar came to her rescue and said: "We will happily give her the debut award. She used to look at Alia and say I will give you a terrible shot and rubbish steps, so that I can win the debut award (Laughs)."

"Student Of The Year" also features Siddharth Malhotra, and Varun Dhawan and will be released Oct 19.