Alia Bhatt, who was on a break after 'Badrinath Ki Dulhania' is all set to resume shooting with Meghna Gulzar's 'Raazi'. Based on Harinder Sikka's novel 'Calling Sehmat', Alia Bhatt will be seen playing a Kashmiri girl, who is married to an army officer across the border, who provides the Indian Intelligence with invaluable information during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
Prepping for her character in the film, Alia has been reading Sikka’s book and has found it very helpful. The 'Udta Punjab' actress explained, “It has helped me add extra layers to my character. The script is a lovely adaptation of the book, which is extensive; it has a lot of stories. I just wanted to get the backstory right in my head."
While Alia has the book to fall back on, she is always working on getting her nuances right. Excited about her part, Alia said, "She’s a 20-year-old girl so I have an idea about what she will be like but the film is based in a certain time period so the character needed a different approach. I’ve been working on the dialect which is important to the narrative. I will be speaking Urdu but there’s a Kashmiri twang to the girl’s diction which I have to perfect. I’m also learning self-defence techniques as I have some action sequences, which is a first for me. I’m watching old movies off a list that Meghna has given me."
Alia, who is also training to ride a jeep further elaborated, "For this film, I’m also working towards looking more feminine since girls in that era had a certain shyness about them. It was inherent in their body language which I feel I lack immensely."
Considering that the book is set-up in a politically-sensitive environment, was the actress apprehensive about coming on board, to which Alia said, "It’s a true and novel story to be a part of so I had no reservations."
