It’s been a decade since Alia Bhatt goofed up her answer when she asked to name the current President of India, to which she replied Prithviraj Chavan instead of Dr. Pranab Mukhejee. Sadly, the mistake followed her for a long time as she was asked such questions frequently during her media interactions, memes were sent out, Alia was trolled from all quarters, and to top it off she became the epitome of dumbness.
But, no more! Interestingly, the actress has decided to give it back to the audience and she seems more aware, knowledgeable, and very careful about not repeating her mistake. She also chose to avoid answering when she had some confusion about the question recently. She also said that she loves it when people think she is ‘dumb’ or ‘intelligent.’
Alia was forced to reminisce about those days during a recent event, but Alia was swift to name the current President and chimed in ‘Droupadi Murmu Ji.’
When asked about her evolution from those days to now being perceived as smart and wiser beyond her days, Alia said, “I love it when people think that I am unintelligent, or that ‘oh she is so dumb.’ I genuinely do, because they make so many memes on me which add to the popularity, and then it’s like you are loving my movies. So there is possibly something that I am doing right in the movie business...I also want to put out this message for young girls-- general knowledge and bookish intelligence in my opinion is not intelligence. To survive in a world, you have to have a certain emotional intelligence, which is possibly the highest form of intelligence.”
Alia Bhatt went on to admit that she does not remember what she read in the school books, remembers the interactions she had with her teachers, and fellow students, noting that she didn’t feel the need to do that she had to go into a creative field.
She also claimed that she knew the correct answer when she was asked to name India’s President during an appearance on Koffee With Karan in 2013.
“My father says ‘rather be stupid than pretend to be intelligent.’ I had this interview on 23rd July when somebody asked me who is the President of India and I was like right now the ceremony hasn’t happened yet, so I am not sure what to say. So I would rather not say anything... In my defence, for the millionth time, I knew who the President of India was (in 2013). It was just confusing. You put anybody in the spot and ask them to give an answer, all wrong answers come out,” said Aila Bhatt as quoted by Hindustan Times.
On the professional front, Alia Bhatt will be next seen in Darlings, which also marks her production debut, and the upcoming Netflix film is scheduled for an August 5 release. The film also stars Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma.
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