Randeep Hooda wanted Alia Bhatt to be ‘terrified’ of him during ‘Highway’

Randeep Hooda recalled working with Alia Bhatt on the second film of her career, ‘Highway’. The film announced to the world that Alia isn’t to be trifled with, despite the impression that her debut feature, ‘Student of the Year’, had made on the audience. In an interview, Randeep said that for her benefit, he maintained his distance from her on set and that after a point, she was terrified of being near him.

In ‘Highway’, directed by Imtiaz Ali, a young woman finds herself experiencing Stockholm Syndrome after being kidnapped by a truck driver. Asked if the reports of him not speaking to Alia were true, Randeep told ‘Humans of Bombay’, “That was more for her.” He continued, “She was from Juhu. She hadn’t really seen much of the world. She didn’t have exposure.”

Randeep explained, “I had exposure. I’d been in NCR with the Gurjars and Jaats. I grew up among them. So, to keep her fear of my character in place, she used to be terrified of me and I made sure of that. I never spoke to her. She wouldn’t come to sit next to me also. And that’s the effect we wanted in the movie because that character had to be. She was new. She was still getting her acting chops right. I hope somebody does these things for me.”

In a 2014 interview with a leading media house, Randeep Hooda had spoken more about this process. He said, “She thought I was uninteresting.”