Alia Bhatt turns presenter at BAFTA awards, begins speech in Hindi

NEW DELHI: Bollywood star Alia Bhatt made her debut as a presenter at the 79th edition of the BAFTA Awards, surprising the audience by starting her speech in Hindi.

Videos from the event, held Sunday at London’s Royal Festival Hall, surfaced online, with several users praising the actor.

“Namaskar! Agla award ek aisi film ke liye hai, jo angrezi mein nahi hai,” she is heard saying in the video.Because while film speaks in countless voices, what we always celebrate is the language of cinema. And that is one we all speak fluently.

And the incredible nominees are,” she added.

Bhatt wore a custom silver Gucci dress, complemented with a white stole.

She was among a star-studded lineup of presenters, including Alicia Vikander, Bryan Cranston, Cillian Murphy, Delroy Lindo, Emily Watson, Ethan Hawke, Gillian Anderson, Glenn Close, Hannah Waddingham, Monica Bellucci, Rege-Jean Page, Riz Ahmed, and Stellan Skarsgård,

“Don’t reach for the subtitles just yet. I was only saying in Hindi that the next award is for a film not in the English language.