Alia Bhatt’s Hollywood debut unimpressive and lackluster

Ever since Priyanka Chopra created history with her debut role in Quantico that established her place in Hollywood, it is not unusual for Indians back home and in the United States to expect another Bollywood star to break into the American entertainment scene.

After Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt is the latest among the newer generation of Bollywood actresses to bag a role in Hollywood.

And unlike her predecessors, Alia, in her first-ever Hollywood role, only had the tough task of standing in front of a towering global star – Gal Gadot.

August marked the premiere of Alia Bhatt-starrer Netflix spy film – Heart of Stone. Starring alongside popular Hollywood actors like Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan, Bhatt plays the role of Keya Dhawan.

In her debut film itself, Bhatt bags an important role and plays an agent of The Charter that works against Gal Gadot’s character, Rachel Stone.

READ: Indian actress Alia Bhatt all set for Hollywood debut in ‘Heart of Stone (March 9, 2022)

Even though, Bhatt settled for a supporting role in her Hollywood first appearance, unlike her usual protagonist’s role in Bollywood, the character of Keya Dhawan is an integral part of the storyline.

So, in a way by accepting a role that is not lead and pitting herself against a star with global fan following, Bhatt has clearly shown that she is not afraid to take risks.

Playing a young cyber geek marks another feather in Bhatt’s already diverse cap. After impactful and emotionally rendering roles like the one in Gangubai Kathiawadi, it displays the panorama of characters she can perform.

But still, despite what looks like a terrific coming-out launch, Alia Bhatt hasn’t been able to impress the audiences.

Part of the reason could be that the characterization seemed sketchy and poorly thought out. While at some places, Alia’s casting as a 22-year-old hacker from Pune seemed a bit stretched, other times the story seemed to need better cushioning.

Whether Alia can carry out a role like the young Keya Dhawan’s in the future with aplomb if her character is given better dialogues and attention to detail is to be seen.

But no one can contest that Alia creates magic when it comes to typically Bollywood roles complete with dance and masti like the one she just portrayed in Bollywood recent release ‘Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani.’

For now, the movie has some winning points like impressive cinematography, a spectacular change of locations from Iceland to Senegal and some interesting moments of tension.

Typically, there is a lot of noise in Bollywood circles if an actor is going to be seen in a crossover or a Hollywood movie, but Alia Bhatt did not get to promote her film in the days preceding the Netflix release owing to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The American actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA went on a strike over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and television producers.

The adrenaline-pumping thriller in parts seems to be faltering both in plot and dialogues, and that is exactly how Alia’s character came out in the movie. Perhaps in her next Hollywood outing, Alia Bhatt would deliver what she’s capable of.