Happy Birthday Alia Bhatt, Ladki Beautiful@23

Alia Bhatt is the most in-demand young actress in Bollywood today. Alia combines fresh-faced charm with real acting chops and has successfully won over the critics with her stellar performances. On her 23rd birthday, let's take a look at her life and career.

Alia was born on March 15, 1993 to producer-director Mahesh Bhatt and his second wife, actress Soni Razdan. She is the half-sister of actors Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt and the niece of producer Mukesh Bhatt. Actor Emraan Hashmi and director Mohit Suri are her cousins.

Alia has always wanted to become a Bollywood star, as she confessed on Koffee With Karan. At six, she did a cameo as she played the younger version of Preity Zinta in the 1999 film Sangharsh.

Unlike her sister Pooja, there was no readymade launch pad in the form of a Mahesh Bhatt film for Alia. Instead, she made her debut as a lead actress in Karan Johar's 2012 hit Student Of The Year opposite fellow Bollywood rookies Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.

Alia was then cast as Veera, a rich girl kidnapped and taken on a road trip which turns out to be a journey of self-discovery, in Imtiaz Ali's Highway. The film released in February 2014 to rave reviews and Alia's performance was singled out for praise.

Alia also began forging a parallel career singing playback last year. She made her debut as a crooner with the song Sooha Saha in Highway. Composer A R Rahman was so impressed with her rendition that he insisted that she should continue her vocal training at his institute.

On the same the day Highway released, the first look of Alia's next film 2 States was released on Twitter. The movie, produced by Karan Johar, is based on a bestselling novel written by Chetan Bhagat. Alia won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her stellar performance in Highway.

Alia created a stir when she invited the media to her engagement on Twitter. This event was later revealed to be the launch of the trailer of 2 States in which she plays a South Indian who falls in love with the Punjabi Arjun Kapoor.

Alia was next seen opposite Varun Dhawan in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, where she played a bride-to-be from Ambala who decides to go to Delhi to arrange cash to buy for buying herself an expensive bridal designer lehenga. Alia sang the unplugged version of Main Tenu Samjhawan Ki in the film.

In 2015, Alia featured in Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar, co-starring Shahid Kapoor. The film did not perform well at the box office.

This year, Alia will feature in Shakun Batra's Kapoor And Sons, co-starring Sidharth Malhotra and Fawad Khan. Alia is also filming Udta Punjab, which also stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Here's wishing Alia a very happy birthday.