In the article that follows, I look at how Alia Bhatt's two relationships became public knowledge in very different ways — one that stayed unconfirmed until it was already over, one that her partner announced early. If you recognise yourself in questions about your own relational patterns, I designed an attachment style test that helps you understand how you form and experience attachment in a relationship. I also wrote a book on this subject, Understanding Your Attachment Style, if you would like to go further. And if you'd rather start with your own relationship as it stands, ScanMyLove analyzes what your conversations actually reveal.

Alia Bhatt's Relationship History: From an Unconfirmed Rumor to Marriage with Ranbir Kapoor

Alia Bhatt has been a fixture of the Indian press since before she had a finished filmography to justify it. Born on 15 March 1993 in Bombay to director Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan, and sister to author Shaheen Bhatt, she appeared as a child performer in her father's 1999 production Sangharsh years before her acting career formally began — a start in the industry that placed her, from 2020 onward, at the center of a public nepotism debate. Asked about the criticism, she said: "Of course, I felt bad. But feeling bad is a small price to pay for the work that you are respected and loved for." Her relationship history, tracked by Indian entertainment media since her lead debut in 2012, includes two distinct chapters: a first relationship that was never publicly confirmed while it was happening, and a second whose public confirmation came from her partner rather than from press reporting.

A debut that doubled as an introduction to public scrutiny

Bhatt's first lead role came in Karan Johar's Student of the Year (2012), alongside Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra; the film itself was not well received critically. It took two more years for her career to find its footing: Highway (2014) won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, and the same year's 2 States and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania established her as a leading actress. That two-year arc — an unconvincing debut followed by a rapid critical and commercial turnaround — set the template for how closely her subsequent choices, on screen and off, would be followed.

Bhatt holds British citizenship, inherited through her mother, while having been born and raised in Mumbai — a detail of biography rather than romance, but one that recurs in how her family and upbringing are described alongside the relationship coverage that followed. She primarily resides in Mumbai to this day, with an additional home in London.

A relationship never confirmed while it lasted

Rumors that Bhatt was dating her Student of the Year co-star Sidharth Malhotra began circulating toward the end of the 2010s. Neither actor confirmed it publicly while it was ongoing. The two went on to share a second film together, Kapoor & Sons (2016), continuing to work alongside each other during the period the relationship is reported to have existed. It was only in 2019, after the relationship had already ended, that Malhotra acknowledged it had happened. Bhatt addressed it directly in an interview around the same time, on 15 February 2019, choosing attribution over denial: "There's too much history" between them, she said, adding: "No bad blood there!" Malhotra has since married actress Kiara Advani, in February 2023.

What stands out in this first chapter of Bhatt's relationship history is not the relationship itself but its disclosure timeline: neither actor denied nor confirmed it while it was current news, and both addressed it only after it had already ended, briefly, in their own words.

Ranbir Kapoor: a relationship announced by Kapoor, not by the press

Bhatt's next major relationship became public in a different way. In 2018, it was Ranbir Kapoor — not the press, not paparazzi photographs — who revealed publicly that the two were dating. Kapoor, whose own earlier relationships had already been extensively covered by Indian media for close to a decade by that point, and Bhatt went on to co-star together in Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, a fantasy epic years in the making that was finally released in 2022, the same year the couple married. Compared to the years-long ambiguity that had surrounded the Malhotra rumor, the Kapoor relationship was publicly acknowledged by the couple themselves from the outset, rather than reported before either had spoken about it.

The pairing also placed Bhatt inside one of Hindi cinema's most closely watched families: Kapoor is the son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, grandson of Raj Kapoor, and great-grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor. A relationship with him meant that any development in it — confirmed or not — would draw a level of press attention few Bollywood couples attract.

A wedding kept small and private

Bhatt and Kapoor married on 14 April 2022, in a private, traditional Hindu ceremony held at their own residence in Mumbai's Bandra neighborhood, attended by a small circle of family and close friends rather than the industry-wide guest list that typically accompanies a Bollywood wedding of this profile.

Motherhood, and a daughter's first public photo more than a year later

Their daughter, Raha, was born on 6 November 2022. Her face was not published by the family or captured by the press for more than a year after her birth; her first public appearance came at Christmas 2023. Bhatt has spoken about Kapoor's role as a father in terms that are, again, her own words rather than a press characterization: "As a father, he is so full — there's a fullness that I have experienced, and I see it on a daily basis."

What the record actually shows

Read end to end, Bhatt's relationship history shows two distinct disclosure timelines. The first relationship was never publicly confirmed until after it had already ended. The second was announced by Kapoor himself in 2018, followed by a wedding held at their private residence with a small guest list, and a daughter whose face was not published for over a year after her birth. Across a decade of press coverage that began when Student of the Year opened in theaters in 2012, the public record available to date shows no correction issued by either Bhatt or Kapoor to how these events were reported.

À lire aussi

• Attachment Styles: The Complete Guide to Understanding Your Relationship Patterns
• The Secret to Relationships That Actually Last

FAQ

Who is Alia Bhatt married to?

Alia Bhatt is married to actor Ranbir Kapoor. The two began dating in 2018, after Kapoor revealed the relationship publicly, and married on 14 April 2022 in a private Hindu ceremony at their residence in Mumbai's Bandra neighborhood.

Did Alia Bhatt date Sidharth Malhotra?

Yes, though it was never confirmed publicly while the relationship was ongoing. Rumors began during the making of their shared debut, Student of the Year (2012), and the two continued working together on Kapoor & Sons (2016). Malhotra acknowledged the relationship in 2019, after it had ended; Bhatt addressed it the same year, saying simply, "There's too much history" between them, with "no bad blood."

When did Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor get married?

They married on 14 April 2022, in a small, private traditional Hindu ceremony at their own home in Mumbai, rather than a large industry event.

When was Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor's daughter born?

Their daughter, Raha, was born on 6 November 2022. The couple kept her face out of public view until her first public appearance at Christmas 2023.