Exclusive! U Turn actress Alaya F: I wanted to be anything but an actor

Being born into a family with a strong film background — mother Pooja Bedi and grandfather Kabir Bedi — it is natural to assume that Alaya F had a natural inclination towards acting. But in a special conversation with OTTplay, the actor made a big revelation.

Alaya is gearing up for the release of her new film U-Turn, which is an adaptation of the successful 2018 Telugu film of the same name, which starred Samantha.

When we asked Alaya if she wanted to become an actor all her life, she told OTTplay, "Since I was a child, I wanted to be anything but an actor. When I realised that I actually did really love films, I thought that I would become a film director. So, I decided to go to NYU to study filmmaking and direction. And that was when the acting bug finally bit me. It was the one thing that I was running away from all my life that eventually caught up with me."

Apart from U-Turn, Alaya has also acted in Jawaani Jaaneman, Freddy, and Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat. And she says that unlearning is a big part of the process of learning how to act. Her experience of having acted in four films so far has taught her that working in films has a lot more to do with the learning process than just knowing the craft.

Speaking about this, Alaya said, "I think that it is a constant journey: first learning how to act, then learning about the film industry, like how to get into it and auditioning, then learning how to survive and thrive in a competitive space. But overall, I am loving my journey."

The actor has formal training in acting, with a diploma from the New York Film Academy, but she constantly attends workshops to gain more knowledge of the craft. So, what is the importance of formal training, and can acting really be taught?

"Formal training gives you the correct tools so that when you are given a certain direction or a certain situation to act out, you do not feel unfamiliar with it. You are not suddenly trying to find tools to tackle a situation. Of course, in acting, there are a lot of things that you learn on the job, but formal training has given me the right tools to build a character, and that gets strengthened with every film that I do. It also gave me the confidence to face the camera," said Alaya.

U Turn is directed by Arif Khan and produced by Ekta Kapoor. It also stars Priyanshu Painyuli, Ashim Gulati, and Manu Rishi Chadha, and will be available to stream on OTTplay and ZEE5 from April 28.