Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; February 21, 2014)

Alia Bhatt didn’t know that she could be a playback singer till music director, AR Rahman asked her to sing for Imtiaz Ali’s film, Highway. The actress, whose film releases today, recounts what it was like to work with the maestro.

“It was an out-of-body experience for me as I found myself in his recording studio with a headphone and a mic in front of me. I now want to learn singing and I want to join his music school in Chennai. What’s more, my sister Shaheen loves music too. Both of us may go there and learn music together,” she says.

Ask her how she plans to make time for the course and she replies that she is keen on taking up a short- term courses. “I will make time for it,” says Alia, who has lent her voice to the lullaby Sooha Saha in Highway. Interestingly, it was director Imtiaz Ali who suggested her name to Rahman. It seems that the latter was skeptical about her singing talent at first but changed his mind when he heard her sing.

Mahesh Bhatt, Alia’s father, says that he’s surprised by his daughter’s skill set. “She keeps hurling surprises at me. I thought I was the best singer in the family but now I have been displaced from the top spot,” he says, adding, “Shaheen is a good singer too.”

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 13, 2014)

He got Alia Bhatt to croon a track, Sooha saha, for their upcoming film Highway. And now Mirror has learnt that AR Rahman will be shaking a leg with the actress in a music video too.

A source close to the production revealed, “The video wasn’t planned initially. The decision was taken almost towards the end of the filming of Highway. A dhaba was built in Film City to give the song a North Indian folksy vibe. Part of the song was shot here and the rest - on the road in the outskirts of Mumbai.”

The song in question is the male version of Patakha Guddi which has a rustic flavour. Choreographed by Ashley Lobo, it was shot over two days and will soon go on air.

Alia confirmed the news saying, “It’s a huge high to be sharing the screen with Rahman sir. That makes Patakha Guddi special!”

On the subject of her first playback, she admits that she was initially apprehensive. “That was because I wasn’t singing for just any other composer. It was for the AR Rahman,” she reasons. “But once I was in the studio, my fears evaporated. And today, I can confidently say that I am open to other singing assignments.”