Rumours of deepika being approached are an absolute lie - Alia

Quirky Alia Bhatt is excited about her film Shaandaar as well as her co-star Shahid Kapoor. She talks about her character, also named Alia, working with Shahid's father Pankaj Kapur and shares her thoughts on destination weddings.

I am not an insomniac like my character. In real life, I love to sleep. But the strange thing is I am living with my sister (Shaheen) who is a certified insomniac. I, on the other hand, have a fear of the dark; it's easy to scare me when it is dark. But in the film it's Shahid's character who is scared of the dark. We did a lot of night shoots and there were rumours of that place being haunted. Shahid would fill my ears with spooky stories. So when I had to go to the bathroom at night, I would ask somebody to come along.

Shaandaar looks like a colourful and light-hearted film. Was it a breeze to shoot?

Every film is hectic, especially the ones that have a fun feel, because they demand that you always look good and you feel your best. You have to be positive and in a happy space since you are going to project that kind of energy. Fortunately, the crew was easy and the director, the captain of the ship was like a baby on the set; so we all had fun.

There are rumours that Deepika Padukone was approached for the film before you. Were you aware of this?

That's not true...it's an absolute lie. When the idea of this script came up, it was not even a full script...it was just a general idea that Vikas (Bhal) wanted to make a destination wedding. Shahid and Vikas had this discussion and Shahid asked Vikas to make this film because he wanted to do it. Later, Vikas developed the idea and at Deepika's party told me Alia I want to come to you with a film.' Highway's (2014) trailer had just released. Shahid and I were not doing amazingly well in our lives... I had just one film and Haider (2014) had not released. Vikas' Queen (2013) too had not released, so none of us was in our front foot so to speak. We were just three people who had this idea and thought it would be nice. I said yes to Shaandaar without reading the whole script.

In Shaandaar, you working with three members of Shahid's family (Pankaj Kapoor, Sanah Kapoor and Shahid).

All three are really hard working. This was Sanah's first film, but she is such a brilliant actor; you can see that acting runs in her genes. Supriya mam and Pankaj sir are so talented. The raw and happy Sanah was new energy on the set. I automatically felt protective towards her because it was her first film and she plays my sister. Pankaj and Shahid are alike; the difference being that Pankaj asks lot of questions and Shahid does not. Pankaj is like a baby. He is the most fantastic actor our country has ever seen but he does not have that air about himself; and the same holds true for Shahid.

Pankaj Kapoor plays your dad in the film. Did you find similarities with your father?

Yes, absolutely. My parents are cool but when it comes to dad I can't go and tell him about boys... it's kind of awkward for me. I am more close to my sister.

What's your thought on destination weddings?

I think I would love to do a destination wedding. I like the idea of travelling to a different place but you never know...there are years to go before I marry.

You have lost a lot of weight recently. Why?

It's just a fitness trip. For Udta Punjab, I had to lose weight but I lost more weight after Udta Punjab probably because I had become a vegetarian eight months ago.

Is it true that your film with Varun Dhawan, Shuddhi has been shelved?

As of now, I am sure of the three films that I am doing next year and I am only going to talk about them.