Alaya F is ecstatic about the positive reaction to her latest film, Srikanth, starring Rajkummar Rao, which has inched its way to being labelled a hit. “The response is really special. I don’t think I’ve experienced this sort of reaction to anything before, and it feels incredible to be part of a story that so many people were excited to watch,” she gushes.

However, just before this success came a film that was a first for her in many ways: Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, her first big-budget masala potboiler, as well as the first to receive polarizing reviews. At the box office, the multi-starrer movie underperformed, and viewers had mixed feelings about her role in the film, finding her to be either charming or annoying. Reflecting on the experience, Alaya chooses to look on the bright side: “I got a lot out of the movie. It was a unique experience to see that sort of response.”  

Alaya, who has starred in films such as Freddy (2022) and Jawaani Jaaneman (2020), continues, “My character was pretty polarizing. That was quite different for me, as my characters (so far in other movies) are normally not. [But] people really enjoyed seeing me in a commercial space, which is great for an actor because I want to continue to do all types of cinema.”

And what about the film’s collections? Did that affect her? Alaya replies, “The film still made money, just not as much as it should have. But a lot of people saw it, compared to many of the other films I’ve done.”