Sanjay Leela Bhansali Says He Clicked Alia Bhatt's Picture With Beau Ranbir Kapoor When She Was Just 9

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt might be one of the most adored couples in tinsel town right now but few are aware that the two were captured in a cute moment when Alia was just 9 years of age. This was done by none other than ace director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when he was auditioning Alia for his 2005 movie Black. Apart from this, SLB also admitted seeing a promising spark in the then young Alia when she had auditioned for the movie even though she had not landed the said part.

In a recent interview with Film Companion, Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed how he was impressed with his Gangubai Kathiawadi heroine Alia Bhatt when she had first come to him as a 9-year-old to audition for Black. The director said, "I saw a very, very powerful person walking into my house when she was 9 years old. This kid (Alia Bhatt) walked in with her mother and her eyes reached out to me. She had come to audition for Black for the small girl's role. I told the casting director not her. I want to save her for a film. There is something very special about her. She kept looking at me and I kept looking at her. (I thought) there's some karmic connection I have with this girl."

Apart from this, Sanjay Leela Bhansali spoke about how he made Alia Bhatt audition with her now-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor as the latter was assisting him for Black. The filmmaker added, "I told her to dance to Dola Re Dola. I wanted to see how much of a heroine she had in her. She came out with flying colours. I made her sit next to Ranbir, who was assisting me on Black at the time."

Sanjay Leela Bhansali went on to recall how he asked Alia Bhatt to put her head on Ranbir Kapoor's shoulders which she had initially refused as she was feeling shy. The Padmaavat director said, "I'm talking to Soni (Razdan) and suddenly I see her head go onto Ranbir's shoulder. And I have that picture of the two of them which I sent her last birthday. It was a little copy saved somewhere, stored and scratched." Now, we are sure that the fans of the couple would love to see Alia share this delightful throwback picture with her beau for the world to see.