Alia Bhatt has star power that is all out of proportion to her size. She is petite, fine-boned and sylphlike in that annoying way that makes everyone around her seem large and clumsy in comparison. It’s very dispiriting.
Bhatt, who’s just 23, has bought a house for herself in Mumbai, where she now lives with her sister Shaheen. Other than the fact that house looks like a million bucks, we’re loving the little details in almost every nook and cranny.
Bhatt’s dressing room into a separate space to ensure the rest of the house would be private, even if the actress was in the midst of fittings. “You know, when she’s getting ready it’s not just her. There’s the stylist, the make-up artists, the spot boys, the ironing guys… it’s like a mela in there, says Richa, her architect, in mild horror. A lobby now separates that space from the large living room, which has turned out to be a cosy mix of New York loft and Swiss chalet, with white walls, comfortable sofas, concrete-tiled floors and expansive windows that incongruously -though not unpleasantly – look out to Mumbai’s very tropical trees.
The palette here is surprisingly well, mature. Bhatt wanted the space to be as completely removed from the glamour associated with Bollywood as possible, and even the lighting is muted, in deliberate contrast to the harsh spotlight – literal and figurative, in which the actress usually finds herself. Are you taking decor inspiration from her house, or are you too busy drowning in envy?