Alia Bhatt's professional decisions does not involve her father

Mahesh Bhatt's daughter considers Karan Johar as her mentor and turns to him for professional advice

Flimmaker Mahesh Bhatt's daughter Alia, who made her Bollywood debut with 'Student of the Year', considers director Karan Johar as her mentor and turns to him for professional advice than to her father.

"Karan is the first person I will call up and tell him about the offer that I have got because he is my mentor. I have a contract for three films with Dharma Productions and I am there for the next five years. So I feel he (Karan) is the person I can fall back on when I need any advice on films or anything", she told PTI.

Alia said compared to her father, Karan was more communicative overall.

"He (Mahesh Bhatt) is not involved in decisions I make in professional life but he talks to me. He knows what I am doing. He keeps a track of what I am doing because he is interested in it (films)," the 20-year-old actress said.

Alia recalled how her father used to be absorbed in work when she was studying, but she feels he is "subtly protective".

"When I was studying, he did not even know which standard I was in as that was not his area of interest. Now he knows where I am shooting, where I am doing promotions etc. He is protective in a subtle way," she added.

Alia said her father's advice to her is to understand professional success and failure objectively.

"He does advice me on certain things. He asks me to keep my head on my shoulders. He says nothing fails more than success. So when you get success then what is next, then you start feeling you have arrived and that's when you fail," Alia said.