Kicking off the year with Gully Boy, Alia Bhatt is ruling the roost in B-Town. Her line up features films with Karan Johar (Takht), SS Rajamouli (RRR), Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Inshallah) besides others in the works. One would assume the actor, 26, has no downtime as she does a double shift promoting Kalank and shooting for Brahmastra, which will be her first movie with boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. "I get enough time to myself despite all of this. I make sure I pamper my cat [Edward], have meals with my parents and chill with my sister [Shaheen]," says Alia. Over the next 30 minutes at a Juhu hotel overlooking the beach, she decodes what feeling on top of her game does to her mind space if her age has led people to undermine her and gravitating towards playing the defiant woman over a damsel in distress.
Edited excerpts from the interview

With your upcoming films, the wins for Raazi at award shows, do you feel at the top of your game?
I consciously don't let myself feel overconfident. I feel motivated to create work and push boundaries. Every time things go right in my life, professionally and personally, I become more driven, focussed, and hard working. Success should never be a reason to slack; it's the impetus to go at it harder. It's almost a decade in the movies for me. The first five years were a breeze. When Student Of The Year (2012) happened, I had no clarity on where I was headed. I look at the last decade as an adventure trip with a few fabulous pit stops. I feel settled now. I am naturally an over thinker and stressor, so, I consciously have to pull myself away from negative thoughts. I want to take each day as it comes.