"It helped me to connect with the person within me. My father always said the day an actor finds oneness with the person within is the day he or she becomes a true actor. I think I found that person during 'Highway'. I don't know how much it helped me to grow as an actor, but the film got me to know things about myself that I didn't know," said Alia.
Having played a fashionable airhead in her debut film "Student Of The Year", Alia has now completed a gruelling, gut-wrenching physically and emotionally exhausting film with Ali.
"It was very difficult," she said and added: "I realise other actors probably come to something like Imtiaz Ali's 'Highway' after maybe six to seven films behind them."
"When Imtiaz offered me the role, I was surprised. I've had no training in acting at all, and that in a way proved an advantage. Imtiaz was able to mould my personality in the way he wanted. So a lack of training proved an advantage for the film," she added.
Alia roughed it out on the "Highway" project, travelling on road, eating at roadsides, living a nomad's existence during the film's shooting.
She said: "I never thought it would be what it turned out to be. 'Highway' has helped me to evolve as a person and an actor. It was...therapeutic! I felt so connected with the surroundings. It was both physically and emotionally challenging.
"The role made me push boundaries within myself, which I didn't know existed. Until you push yourself, you don't know how tough you are. By the end of the shooting, I was comfortable sitting on the road and eating, and sleeping under a tree. By the end of the film, I didn't miss my comfortable bed at home."
Alia has so far led a pretty sheltered life.
"I'd say the girl I played in 'Student Of The Year' was closer home. 'Highway' took me to a different world. I've been to boarding school where we didn't lead sheltered lives. And I've been for trekking with my mom. But nothing prepared me for the life that I experienced in 'Highway'."
No time for the 20-year-old, daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, to be with her parents and friends.
"Yes, I guess my life has changed. I am suddenly working hard. To be honest, I missed spending time with my family. But now after a year of shooting I am trying to again spend as much time as possible with my family. During the beginning of the year after 'Student Of The Year' was released, I couldn't have time of my own. Now I make sure to take time off," she said.
