While Alaya F made her debut in Jawaani Jaaneman in 2020 alongside Saif Ali Khan and Tabu, it was not the first film she signed. The young actor shared her journey of rejections before she made her breakthrough in films. Alaya credits Anurag Kashyap for backing her at a time when no one would. She is appearing in the filmmaker's next, Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, with newcomer Karan Mehta. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap says pan-India bandwagon led to Bollywood destroying itself: 'When you emulate, you set up for disaster')
Alaya is no stranger to films as her mother Pooja Bedi and grandfather Kabir Bedi have been in the industry before her. But the actor recalled that even though she was getting called into meetings and getting good feedback, her debut film was still out of reach. Luckily, a meeting with writer-director Anurag changed all that.
In an interview with Mid-Day, Alaya shared, "Almost Pyaar was the first film I signed, even before my debut vehicle, Jawaani Jaaneman. At the time, I was facing back-to-back rejections. People would praise [my reel], but I would never hear back from them. This confused me about the industry, and made me doubt myself. But when I showed my reel to Anurag sir, he said, ‘I have a film that’s perfect for you.’ There was no more discussion; he offered me the film."
The filmmaker's faith in her allowed her to pursue her future project with more certainty. She added, “That someone like him could believe in me gave me unparalleled confidence. It made me think I am worthy of being in the industry. I credit all the things that I got later, to that moment with sir. In a way, my career changed after that.”
{{/usCountry}}The filmmaker's faith in her allowed her to pursue her future project with more certainty. She added, “That someone like him could believe in me gave me unparalleled confidence. It made me think I am worthy of being in the industry. I credit all the things that I got later, to that moment with sir. In a way, my career changed after that.”
{{/usCountry}}Alaya won the Best Female Debut tropy at the 2021 Filmfare Awards for her performance in Jawaani Jaaneman. Earlier this month, she was seen opposite Kartik Aaryan in the Disney+ Hotstar film, Freddy. Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat was premiered at the Marrakech International Film Festival last month where both Alaya and Karan attended the premiere along with Anurag. She also has the films Ek Aur Ghazab Kahani and Sri, with Rajkummar Rao, lined up for release next year.
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