Happy Birthday Alia Bhatt: Her picture-perfect romance with Ranbir Kapoor, in 23 photos

On Alia Bhatt’s birthday today, we recount her relationship with her ‘special man’ Ranbir Kapoor. The couple which started dating in 2017 has stayed steady over the years. Both Alia and Ranbir have publicly acknowledged their relationship, as have their family members. As Alia Bhatt turns 28 today, here’s recounting her picture perfect romance with Ranbir.

This is one of the first photos of Ranbir Kapoor that Alia Bhatt shared on her Instagram handle. "its just the beginning.. 💫," she wrote along with it. Ranbir's close friend Ayan Mukerji, who is directing the two in Brahmastra, is also featured in the photo. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

The rumours of Ranbir and Alia dating each other first started in 2017. While the couple refrained from commenting, Ranbir often appeared on Alia's social media handle. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Ranbir and Alia acknowledged their relationship in public when they attended Sonam Kapoor’s wedding reception together in May 2018. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Around the same time, Ranbir Kapoor confirmed their relationship in a GQ interview. In the interview, Ranbir had stated that their relations as ‘new’ at that time, and he didn’t want to speak about it. When asked if the two were dating, Ranbir said, “It’s really new right now, and I don’t want to overspeak. It needs time to breathe and it needs space. As an actor, as a person, Alia is – what’s the right word? – flowing right now. When I see her work, when I see her act, even in life, what she gives is something that I’m aspiring to for myself. It’s new for us, so let it cook a bit." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

In December that year, Alia was featured in the family photo of Ranbir Kapoor, along with his parents Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor and sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahani, her husband Bharat Sahni and daughter Samara Sahni. (Photo: Neetu Kapoor/Instagram)

Alia's father and director Mahesh Bhatt spoke about the couple in an interview in December, 2018. He said, "Well, of course, they are in love. You don’t need to be a genius to get that! I love Ranbir… He is a great guy." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Reacting to her father’s comment, Alia, at an event in Mumbai, said, "To be honest I don’t want to talk about it because I feel shy. I love my father. Anything he says obviously means the world to me. Apart from that, I don’t want to say anything." (Photo: Neetu Kapoor/Instagram)

In March 2019, Alia bagged the Best Actress for Raazi, and Ranbir got the Best Actor trophy for Sanju. Alia, in her speech, mentioned Ranbir calling him her ‘special man’. Alia said, "Meghna for me Raazi is you, your blood and sweat. You are my main chick. Vicky without you, the film wouldn’t be complete. Thank you my mentor Karan for being my mentor, father and my fashion police. Tonight’s all about love there is my special one, I love you."

In her Instagram post too, Alia shared a long note that ended like, "And last but not the least MY special one - the one that makes my heart smile and eyes shine ❤️ And shine I will.. Because there's soo much to do in life.. And this is just the beginning." (Photo: Neetu Kapoor/Instagram)

Since then, from going on vacations together to attending family and public functions, Ranbir and Alia were seen together a lot of times. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Alia is quite close to Ranbir's sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni too. They are time and again seen spending time together. (Photo: Riddhima Kapoor Sahni/Instagram)

After Ranbir's dad, actor Rishi Kapoor’s death, Alia Bhatt was by the family's side. Alia had shared a long note about Rishi that read, "What can I say. About this beautiful man… who brought soo much love and goodness into my life. Today, everyone speaks of the legend that is Rishi Kapoor… and though I’ve known him like that all my life…for the past two years I’ve known him as a friend, a fellow Chinese food lover, a total cinema lover, a fighter, a leader, a beautiful storyteller, an extremely passionate tweeter and a father! In these past two years the love I have received from him is like a warm hug that I will always cherish! I thank the universe for giving me this opportunity to know him…today probably most of us can say he is like family – because that’s how he made you feel! Love you, Rishi Uncle! Will miss you forever! Thank you for being you!" Alia also posted this picture of Ranbir and Rishi, and captioned it, "beautiful boys." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Alia once shared how post Kalank's failure Ranbir advised her that hard work will eventually pay off. The actor said she was talking to Ranbir who gave her an advise which “made a lot of sense” to her. "He said, you put in the hard work, it doesn’t have to pay off immediately. It’ll pay off in your life, someday. That’s what it means to be a hardworking actor or a person. Someday the goodness will come to you in another film." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

At the Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star 2019, when Alia Bhatt and Ranbir's cousin, Kareena Kapoor Khan, sat for a chat with Karan Johar, the filmmaker talked about the common personal factor between them – Ranbir Kapoor. When Alia shied away from taking his name, Karan made it a point to mention him. Karan asked Alia, "Did you ever imagine there would be a day she (Kareena) might be your sister-in-law?" Alia blushed and struggled to say anything. Kareena, however, was prompt with her remark. "I’ll be the happiest girl in the world!" she said. But Alia said, "Honestly I never thought about it but I don’t want to think about it now also. We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Adding to this, Karan said, "I want to say that whenever and if ever it has to happen, both of us (Kareena and I) will be exceptionally happy and we will be standing there with a thali! I do hope, eventually, whenever you do kind of get into that zone, you will actually handle and treat your career like Kareena has." (Photo: Kareena Kapoor Khan/Instagram)

Number eight being Ranbir's lucky number, the infinity sign has always been this couple’s symbol. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

It seems like Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were meant to be together. Once talking about her crush, Alia had said in an interview that ever since she was 11-years-old, she had a crush on Ranbir. She had apparently auditioned for ‘Black’ and that’s when she fell for Ranbir, who was the assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the film. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

The wedding rumours of the two also made headlines several times. (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Last year in late December when Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were clicked at Jaipur airport, reports emerged online that the actors are all set to get engaged in Ranthambore. But the two were just there to ring in the New Year together, along with other Family members and friends like Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. Ranbir’s uncle Randhir Kapoor has refuted the reports and had then told indianexpress.com, "It is not true. If Ranbir and Alia were to get engaged today, my family and I would have also been there with them. Ranbir, Alia and Neetu have gone there for holidays and to bring in the new year. The news of their engagement is incorrect." (Photo: Neetu Kapoor, Soni Razdan/Instagram)

Alia was also a part of the Kapoor family's Christmas celebration. (Photo: Neetu Kapoor/Instagram)

In an unseen footage of Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone's Koffee with Karan season 6, Alia shared how she was earlier being calculative about getting married. Alia indicated that the feeling of getting married eventually comes to you when you meet the right person. She said, "Honestly, there was a time in my life when I was like I am not going to get married till I am 30. I need to act. But when you feel like you are in a space where you are comfortable and it feels peaceful and right, then there is no timing that really matters." (Photo: APH Images)

Alia Bhatt turns 28 today.

Ranbir has been quite vocal about his relationship. Ranbir Kapoor told Rajeev Masand in an interview in December last year that he would have been married had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic. Ranbir said, "Well, I think it (the wedding) would have already been sealed had the pandemic not hit our lives. But I don’t want to jinx it by saying anything. I am going to tick mark that goal very soon in my life." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram) (Photo: Neetu Kapoor/Instagram)

Apart from his wedding plans, Ranbir Kapoor had also opened up about how he spent the lockdown, while calling Alia Bhatt an overachiever. "You know my girlfriend Alia (Bhatt) is an overachiever. She probably took every online class there is — from guitar to screenwriting. And I always feel like an underachiever next to her." On the film front, Ranbir and Alia will soon come together on the silver screen for Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra. Alia Bhatt recently shared a post for beau Ranbir Kapoor. The latter is in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, and Alia took to Instagram to express her feelings. The picture is of the couple holding hands and the caption read, "major missing ♾💗." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)

Alia Bhatt recently shared a post for beau Ranbir Kapoor. The latter is in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, and thus girlfriend Alia took to Instagram to express her feelings. The picture is of the couple holding hands and the caption read, "major missing ♾💗." (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram)