Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor are two of the biggest stars in Bollywood today. Their relationship is obviously the talk of the town. While the world speculates endlessly about what the duo will do next, what their respective parents think about them is worth knowing. In the past, we have read Rishi Kapoor speaking frankly about it. His comment ‘Neetu likes her, I like her, Ranbir likes her. Get it?’ more than summed up what the Kapoors thought of the couple. Now, Mahesh Bhatt, Alia’s father, has spoken at length about them. In a long interview to The Telegraph, he acknowledged candidly that the two were in a relationship. “Well, of course they’re in love. You don’t need to be a genius to get that!” he was quoted as saying. When asked if he had any advice to give to his daughter, his answer was a frank denial. He said he had never taken any advice, as a youngster, and believed every human being had the right and required intelligence to chart his or her journey by himself/herself. He even added that whether they would go in for marriage too would be their call. He added that the very institution of marriage needed to be questioned in the second decade of 21st century. Mahesh also spoke about Sanju where Ranbir played the titular role. “I loved Ranbir (Kapoor) but that’s not the Sanjay Dutt that I know. Ranbir brought his own emotional chord to it but I don’t think Rajkumar (Hirani) was claiming to the world that he’s making an exact replica. People who are very close to Sanjay cannot connect with that portrayal in the movie. But India seems to have loved it,” he said. Meanwhile, Ranbir and Alia have never hidden their feelings for each other even if they initially didn’t acknowledge it upfront. It was only after Ranbir spoke about his relationship in an interview to GQ magazine earlier this year that it has come to the foreground. However, Alia has never spoken in too great a detail. Her Instagram posts, however, are the best demonstration of her state of mind. Her visit to New York City and her many pictures with the Kapoors show their collective comfort levels. Ranbir and Alia also make public appearances together, like they did when they posed at Sonam Kapoor’s wedding reception together. Work-wise, the duo remains busy as ever, with Alia having more work than Ranbir. Alia, who delivered a big hit of 2018 with Raazi, has projects like Kalank and Takht with her mentor Karan Johar. She will be seen with Ranbir in Ayan Mukherji’s fantasy trilogy Brahmastra and Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, opposite newlywed Ranveer Singh. Ranbir, coming out of the monstrous hit Sanju, has Shamshera with Yashraj Films apart from Brahmastra. Published in Daily Times, December 12th 2018.