Alia did not want to be launched by father

Mahesh Bhatt`s banner Vishesh Films has given a break to several actors in B-town including Emraan Hashmi, John Abraham and Kunal Khemu. "I had already decided that I would not want to be launched by my father`s production company. Honestly speaking, it was an easy option and why would not my father launch me," Alia told reporters here at the first look of her debut film.

"I wanted to go somewhere else for films, like I did with `Student of the Year`...I auditioned for this film, lost weight and all. And only through all this I got accepted."

She is all praise for director Karan Johar. "I was influenced by Karan Johar`s films since the time I saw `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai`. It is a great honour to work with him. He pampered and cheered me to give my best shot. I couldn`t have asked for a better debut film than this."

Choreographer-turned-director Farah, who makes her acting debut with `Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi`, has choreographed Alia`s dance steps in the film. "Farah had said she will give terrible dance steps to Alia so that she looks bad and does not win best debut actress award," said director Johar, jokingly. "We would happily give Farah the best debut award."