Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt on Monday said she would love to produce the directorial debut of her actor-husband Ranbir Kapoor and would be “upset” if he doesn’t ask her to be part of the project.

During the promotions of his latest release Shamshera, Ranbir had reportedly expressed a desire to try his hand at film direction.

The actor, who will next be seen in Brahmastra: Part One— Shiva alongside Alia, had said he had already written a story during the pandemic-induced lockdown and was scouting for writers to flesh it out.

During the trailer launch of her upcoming film Darlings, Alia’s maiden production venture, the actress was asked about the possibility of producing Ranbir’s debut directorial.

“We discussed it, in fact. I told him that if you don’t make me produce it, I’ll be very upset! I told him if you don’t want to take me as an actor, that’s totally fine,” said Alia.

“He told me, ‘No, no I need you, you’re a tyrant’, as a joke. I’m a creative producer, so I’ll give my creative inputs at the writing stage and produce it,” she added.

Darlings marks the directorial debut of writer Jasmeet K Reen. The Mumbai-set dark comedy will start streaming on Netflix on August 5.

Alia has produced the film through her banner Eternal Sunshine Productions, in collaboration with superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

The actress, last seen on the big screen in Gangubai Kathiawadi, said she was surprised with Reen’s sharp writing and instantly felt like producing Darlings.

“When I met Jasmeet in 2019, I had a packed schedule. But I have a habit of taking a narration because you never know where a good script can come from. The narration was pretty normal and suddenly it shifted gears,” Alia said.

“I was right at the edge of the seat and it is rare that I get surprised with a script but it happened with Darlings. Naturally, I thought that I would like to be a producer on this as well,” the 29-year-old added.

Alia recalled Shah Rukh had told her that he generally doesn’t co-produce films but made an “exception” for her. The duo had co-starred in Dear Zindagi, the 2016 coming-of-age drama film.

“He (Shah Rukh) said that we will have a lot of fun and enjoy shooting the film. He recently saw the film and in typical Darlings style, he messaged, ‘Thanks you Darlings for doing this films’,” she said.

Darlings stars Alia alongside Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew.

According to the official synopsis, the film explores the lives of a mother-daughter duo trying to find their place in the city, “seeking courage and love in exceptional circumstances while fighting against all odds”.