Alia Bhatt named PETA's 2021 Person of the Year for advocating nature-friendly products

Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt has been named PETA's 2021 Person of the Year for her work in supporting animal-friendly fashion industry products ranging from kidswear to vegan leather products.

The actress had recently invested in Phool, the company behind Fleather, which makes vegan leather out of discarded temple flowers. In addition, her vegan kidswear line, Ed-a-Mamma, also won a 2021 PETA India fashion award for helping to nurture kids' love for animals and nature.

Alia Bhatt is known to advocate support for cats and dogs and often uses her voice to call for stronger animal protection laws. The actress has also starred in a pro-adoption People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India campaign to help felines and canines.

PETA India Director of Celebrity and Public Relations, Sachin Bangera said, "Alia Bhatt is not only helping to advance vegan fashion but also encouraging the next generation to be kind to animals."

He added, "Alia doesn't hesitate to speak up, whether she's rallying her fans to adopt a dog or cat or calling for action on crimes against animals."

Past recipients of PETA India's Person of the Year Award include Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, former Supreme Court Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan, cricketer Virat Kohli, comedian Kapil Sharma, actors John Abraham, Anushka Sharma, Sunny Leone, R. Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Hema Malini, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, for helping animals in different ways.