Alia Bhatt was born on 15 March 1993 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. She has an elder sister, Shaheen, and half-siblings Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt. She studied at Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai, and left school in Class 12 to pursue acting. She holds British citizenship.
She first appeared on screen as a child in Sangharsh (1999), briefly playing the younger version of Preity Zinta's character.