Actress Alia Bhatt shows her obsession with new padel sport

Alia Bhatt is taking her fitness game to a new level, and it seems she has found a new passion—padel!

The actress, of late, has been spotted enjoying the fast-growing racket sport with great enthusiasm. On Friday, Alia posted a video of her where she is seen showing her prowess in the padel sport. Alongside the clip, the ‘Raazi’ actress wrote, “Some arguments were had over my padel obsession... #hardfacts.” Dressed in sports athleisure, Alia is seen enjoying the new padel, which is the racket sport that’s a mix of tennis and squash. She also added ‘Apna Time Aayega’ rap from her film “Gully Boy” as background score for the video.

For those unaware, Padel, a rapidly rising racket sport, is attracting attention worldwide for its fun and fitness benefits. Unlike traditional racket sports, a padel court is roughly one-third the size of a tennis court and is enclosed by glass or mesh walls. Players can use these walls to bounce the ball, and even step outside the court through a door to return shots.

On the professional front, Alia Bhatt’s upcoming film with her mother, Soni Razdan, titled “Difficult Daughters,” is making waves at Busan’s Asian Project Market. The duo recently shared insights about their vision for the project, which is an adaptation of Manju Kapur’s acclaimed novel.

“Difficult Daughters” spans two timelines and follows the story of Virmati, the eldest of ten children in a traditional Punjabi household in 1940s Lahore. Determined to pursue education and love, she defies societal norms, only to face unexpected consequences when she becomes the second wife of a married professor.

Alia, who was last seen in “Jigra,” is also gearing up for her next big project, the action-packed film “Alpha,” co-starring Sharvari and Bobby Deol. Set to release next year, the movie promises to showcase Alia in an intense, action-oriented avatar.

Bhatt had her first leading role in 2012 with Karan Johar’s Student of the Year, alongside newcomers Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. She auditioned alongside 500 girls and was cast by Johar on the condition that she lose 16 kg (35 lb), which she did in three months.

She played a sophisticated teenage girl involved in a love triangle. Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times mentioned similarities between her character and Kareena Kapoor’s role in Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), but noted that her performance was “without the killer attitude.” Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter dismissed her as “a washout,” finding her “inelegant in the dance numbers” and her “expressions (to be) limited.”

Dismayed by the critical response to Student of the Year, Bhatt was keen to play a challenging role. She found it in Imtiaz Ali’s coming-of-age film Highway (2014), in which she starred as a young woman from a wealthy family who, after being abducted, develops Stockholm syndrome towards her captor (played by Randeep Hooda).

Agencies