She laughs when referred to as a 'singing star'. But, in less than six months, Alia Bhatt has been heard singing in two films. Highway's 'Sooha Saaha' has been followed by an unplugged version of 'Main Tennu Samjhawaan' for her upcoming film 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania',

"I love singing in the shower and even in the car. But, recording a song in the studio is a different ball game," admits the actress. But, there was no trace of nervousness when she was approached for this song, only a 'wow' excitement, reports The Times of India.

"I'd been humming the original sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for the Punjabi film 'Virsa' and loved the duet Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghosal had rendered for our film. But I didn't try to ape either or try to match up knowing it was impossible. My Samjahawaan is a random, unplugged version--personal and relatable. Anyone listening to it will feel they can croon too," she says.

The Highway track was high pitched, Samjhavaan is more husky. Alia imagined it would be easier till she was told to render some high notes in a husky tenor. But that hasn't put her off playback singing. "I can sing in every film," she says blithely, pointing out that after hearing Sooha saha, composer AR Rahman had told her to take singing forward. "I was planning to train at Rahman sir's school in Chennai but my work schedule doesn't allow me the time at present," she sighs.


But some day, Alia hopes to cut an album too. "Priyanka Chopra is my inspiration. I may not be able to sing a pop song like In my city like her, but I could try something softer and personal," she says confidently.

Alia's co-star Varun Dhawan has also rapped on the track Lucky Tu, Lucky Me. And she's all praise for him. "Varun has a good voice and understands music. Like my dad (Mahesh Bhatt) he can tell if a song will be a hit. But, like me, he sings better when he is spontanious and not trying too hard," says Alia.

Prankster Varun reduced her to tears during the filming. Did he make her cry during the recording too? She doesn't gnash her teeth at the memory of Varun's mischief, pointing out that she was having a bad day and moaning that she was looking fat. "Varun concurred, that's what my sister would have done too. But I was just feeling low and burst into tears. Poor guy, kept saying sorry and sent me flowers too," she smiles fondly.


At 21, Alia is beautiful, successful and buzz is, both Varun and Arjun Kapoor are extremely possessive of her. So much so, that she had to tell the latter to back off. "Ridiculous!" she laughs. "I'd never tell him that.All my co-stars, from Sid (Sidharth Malhotra) and Varun to Arjun and Randeep (Hooda), are my friends."

But, what is her reaction on the Randeep in a recent interview where he admitted that he wasn't happy with the way Highway became Alia's film just because she was Mahesh Bhatt's daughter and did a little bit of acting in it. Without losing her equilibrium Alia says, "Randeep was a critically acclaimed and established actor even before Highway while it was only my second film after Student Of The Year and gave me a chance to perform. Still, it is as much Randeep's film as it is mine. In fact, at the end of the day, it's Imtiaz's (director Imtiaz Ali) film."

And will Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania trigger off comparisons with Karan Johar's earlier dulhania, Kajol? Alia shudders, "Kajol is beautiful and a fantastic actress with 'speaking' eyes. Being compared to her and Kareena (Kapoor) is scary. I'm not even close, just as our film, while being a tribute to DDLJ, is not even a patch on the original."

She's now looking forward to mom Soni Razdan's period love story. "It'll take time but on-screen love is always exciting," Alia beams.