Alia Bhatt Transforms for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War

It begins slowly. Mysterious, sultry, almost teasing - before the music builds, the beat kicks in and Alia Bhatt arrives in a Love & War avatar unlike anything audiences have seen from her before.

There’s Alia Bhatt, and then there’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Alia Bhatt. Following their acclaimed collaboration on Gangubai Kathiawadi, the filmmaker takes his leading lady somewhere entirely new, creating a physical and tonal reinvention that feels confident, sensual and distinctly cinematic.

Bold, glamorous and unapologetically alluring, Alia is drenched in red, surrounded by smoke, sequins and the seductive glamour of another era. The accompanying track follows the same journey as the image: starting restrained before opening into a catchy, upbeat hook, peppy, melodic and full-bodied, with the larger-than-life energy of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali world.

The music gives the image a sense of arrival. Its gradual build mirrors the confidence of the visual: a slow reveal that ultimately lands with attitude. And throughout it all, red dominates, bold, provocative and impossible to ignore.

Smoke, sequins, cabaret and old-world glamour offer glimpses of the world she may inhabit, but reveal little about the woman herself. Is she a cabaret performer? What lies behind the glamour? And what does this bold new avatar tell us about her place in the love story at the heart of Love & War?

With Bhansali’s trademark attention to detail, scale, and visual storytelling, Love & War promises the kind of sweeping cinematic experience audiences have come to expect from one of Indian cinema’s most distinctive filmmakers. One of the most anticipated films on the horizon, Love & War is set to redefine Indian cinema in 2027.

Love & War, a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. The film releases worldwide in cinemas on 21 January 2027, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.