Alaya F

Alaya F was born Aalia Furniturewala on 28 November 1997,^[1][2][3] in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to actress Pooja Bedi and businessman Farhan Ebrahim Furniturewala.^[4] She is of Parsi and Gujarati Khoja Muslim descent on her father's side and Punjabi, Haryanvi, British and Bengali descent on her mother's side.^[5][6][7] She is the granddaughter of actor Kabir Bedi and classical dancer Protima Bedi.^[8][9]

She studied at Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai. Before making her film debut, she earned a diploma in acting at the New York Film Academy and later changed her name to Alaya F.^[1] She is presently training to be a contemporary and kathak dancer.^[10] In 2011, she appeared on the reality show, Maa Exchange, with her mother.^[11][12]

Alaya made her film debut with Nitin Kakkar's Jawaani Jaaneman (2020), a family comedy-drama, in which she played a 21-year-old girl claiming a 40-year-old person who has a hatred for marriages, to be her father.^[13][14] Bollywood Hungama noted, "Alaya makes an excellent debut and puts up a confident act. She looks gorgeous and is the only actor who moves viewers to an extent."^[15] While Vibha Maru of India Today mentioned "Alaya will steal your heart. She is just a natural in front of the camera."^[16] She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her performance.^[17]

Alaya next played a negative role for the first time as Kainaaz Irani, a woman in an abusive marriage in the 2022 film Freddy opposite Kartik Aaryan.^[18][19] News18's Chirag Sehgal noted, "Alaya's performance is worth appreciating. She has done her part with utmost ease and grace." Devesh Sharma from Filmfare said Alaya has managed to be both "vulnerable" and "cunning".^[20][21]

She then appeared in the 2023 film Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, opposite Karan Mehta.^[22][23] Grace Cyril of India Today stated, "Alaya has proved once again she is growing as an actor and makes a case for herself. She has portrayed both her characters with ease, perfection and brings out the innocence in her so well."^[24] The film was a huge commercial failure at the box office.^[25] In the same year, she played a news intern in the Zee5 film, U-Turn.^[26][27] Deepa Gahlot opined, "Alaya F actually holds the film together, pulling out the right emotions required, and not letting the slightest scepticism leak out of those large, expressive eyes."^[28]

In 2024, Alaya played an IT specialist in Ali Abbas Zafar’s actioner Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, co-starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff. It was theatrically released on Eid to negative reviews from critics and emerged as a box-office-bomb.^[29][30][31] She then played the girlfriend of blind entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla in his biopic Srikanth, opposite Rajkummar Rao.^[32] Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint opined that she "leaves a mark" despite limited screen time.^[33]

Alaya is a celebrity endorser for several brands and products including Lenskart and Nykaa.^[34] She became the face of Nykaa's "A Million Nakhras" campaign in 2022.^[35] Alaya was ranked 42nd in Times' 50 Most Desirable Women List of 2020.^[36] In 2023, Alaya was placed in Eastern Eye's "30 under 30 Asians" list.^[37]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alaya Furniturewala.

• Alaya F at IMDb
• Alaya F at Bollywood Hungama