Actor Alia Bhatt recently made a ‘desi’ debut at the 2026 British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Dressed in a silver, glittering Gucci gown, Alia was invited to present the ‘Best Film Not in the English Language’ award.

Actor and host Alan Cumming introduced Alia on stage as a “hugely talented actress and entrepreneur” and said, “This means she has conquered both show business and business-business. But can she conquer the business of presenting at a BAFTA? I am sure she can. Please welcome one of India’s most moved and critically acclaimed actors – Alia Bhatt.”

After getting on stage, the actor opened in Hindi. “Namaskar. Agla award ek aise film ke liye hain, jo angrezi me nahi hai.” (Next award is for a film that is not in English). She then cheekily switched to English and asked the audience to “not switch to the subtitles yet.”

She went on to say that although cinema can be in multiple languages, the one language that unites everybody is the language of cinema. “While films speaks in countless voices, what we always celebrate is the language of cinema and that we all speak fluently. Let’s take a look at this year’s incredible nominees.”

The nominations for the ‘Best Film Not in the English Language’ included Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value.

The winner was Joachim’s film, starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Elle Fanning.

Earlier at the awards red carpet, Alia while responding to a question had said: "I feel most myself in front of the camera. I love my job so deeply. But I have to say that my true source of inspiration and magic right now is my daughter. She's three now and watching her dancing to my songs sometimes, I'm like 'that is life'.”