Ijjat se jeeneka, kisi se darneka nahi” – during an interactive session at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Alia Bhatt modulated her voice and delivered her famous dialogue from Gangubai Kathiawadi – the film that won her a National Award this year – to the loudest applause.

The actor, who’s on her first trip to Jeddah, also spoke at length about her career. Alia admitted that she froze on the sets of Dear Zindagi during her first ever shot with Shah Rukh Khan. “As we went on sets and we were doing the first shot together, I think I froze. My mind went completely blank because I couldn’t believe it. And then Gauri Shinde had to come and whisper in my ears, ‘You have to forget The Shah Rukh Khan’, and I was like, ‘Okay.’ Actually, my character had to give him attitude and I was like, ‘How to do this’,” she shared.

She also revealed her ‘cheat code’ to acting, which involves taking on off-beat or unusual roles like those in Udta Punjab or RRR, and giving them a completely new spin. “So, I take it upon as a challenge and I really enjoy doing it. There is a lot of prep work but I feel it makes half of the job much easier where you can just give a completely new face to a character and that will not be anything like you. So, like ‘Oh wow! What a great actor because she’s not like that’. So, it’s actually like a cheat code. It takes new lengths in your performance,” she said.