Karan Johar credits Imtiaz Ali for 'nurturing' Alia Bhatt as an actor

Alia Bhatt is unquestionably one of Bollywood’s most sought-after stars with many critics agreeing that she is chockfull of talent.

However, when it comes to utilizing that gift, filmmaker Karan Johar confessed that he couldn’t make use of it to a great extent when he roped her in for the 2012-released Student of the Year.

Talking to Rajeev Masand in an interview, Johar said: “She wasn’t used for her talent at all. In many ways, her emotional launch is Student of the Year but her real professional launch is Imtiaz Ali’s Highway.”

“The way he nurtured her as an actor, the way he put her out there is something I didn’t do at all. I always spotted that there was something about her but I didn’t use her talent at all. I actually don’t feel I full-fledgedly ever directed Alia the way I would like to do.”

The actor-director duo will reunite once again for Takht where Alia may not get as much screen time given the cosmic cast comprising Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushal, Kareena Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Anil Kapoor.

Speaking about Alia in the upcoming film, Karan said: “Even Takht is an ensemble, she has a solid part in a way that she is extremely beautiful. It is one of my favourite tracks in the film but I still feel believe she and I have a film to make. A film that we can be known for. I haven’t really leveraged this whole lot of talent that we know.”