Cannes 2026: Alia Bhatt's 'Gender Agnostic' Statement Receives Mixed Response; Netizens Connect It To Dhurandhar's Success, 'She Is Worried About Alpha'
· Free Press Journal
Alia Bhatt is grabbing everyone's attention with her stunning looks at the Cannes Film Festival 2026. The actress is there to represent a beauty brand, and from photoshoots to interviews to red carpet walks, she is leaving a strong mark on the French Riviera. However, one of the actress's statements from an interview has also gone viral, and netizens are giving mixed responses to it.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, when Alia was asked about the changes she wants to see in cinema, the actress gave examples of some Hollywood hits like Barbie, Wuthering Heights, and The Devil Wears Prada 2, and said that the main audience of these movies were women.
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However, while talking about the audience and films in India, the actress stated, "In India, somehow when we talk about box office numbers, there's a conversation that comes up pretty often, 'oh 75% of movie-going audience is male, so we need to cater to the mass'. This conversation comes up quite a bit. But, I only wonder if we are catering just to the men, then what happens to the women?"
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Alia added, "I am not saying that we alienate the men, but then why do we have to alienate anybody? Why do we have to cater to one gender? Why can't we make movies that are gender agnostic where the storytelling takes centre stage? Whether it stars a man or a woman, that should not matter. It is the storytelling that should matter. So, I am just hoping we have more of that."
Netizens React To Alia Bhatt's Statement
Many netizens are reacting to Alia's statement about Indian films. While some are trolling her, some are supporting her. A few also connected her statement to the success of Dhurandhar.
A netizen tweeted, "Alia Bhatt's jealousy over not being part of Dhurandhar is starting to become visible now . She has a problem with why Indian movies are male-centred. She argues against the practice of catering to just one gender, suggesting that storytelling should be 'gender agnostic' (sic)."
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Another X user wrote, "Never encountered a single intelligent Dhurandhar fan, and this proves it again. You lack cinema literacy and comprehension skills. Alia Bhatt is pointing out that films often cater to gender-specific narratives, with women-centric stories being fewer. She says that both male and female-centric films deserve equal space (sic)."
One more netizen tweeted, "While her statements are somewhat true - I deeply feel she’s worried about Alpha post Dhurandhar Saga’s Indian film industry revolutionising success! Al!A, aren’t you doing female-centric films with Maddock, YRF, did 2 with Dharma & Gangubai with SLB? (sic)." Check out the tweets below...
Alia has not yet replied to the social media reactions to her statement.
Alia Bhatt Upcoming Movies
Alia currently has two films lined up, Alpha and Love & War. While the former is slated to release in July this year, the latter will hit the big screens in January 2027.