Bollywood Star Alia Bhatt on How She Sought Comfort Food During ‘Heart of Stone’ Shoot

Indian restaurants in London’s Southall neighborhood kept Bollywood star Alia Bhatt happy while working on location for her Hollywood debut, “Heart of Stone.”

The 2023 Netflix thriller, directed by Tom Harper and co-starring Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan, in which Bhatt plays globe-trotting hacker Keya Dhawan, spent two months shooting in London — a long time away from her usual haunts.

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“I really needed Indian food,” she told Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, where she is part of the “In Conversation” side-bar.

The crew “were telling [me] where all these spots are — Southall, where you have amazing Indian restaurants. They got me some Indian food that really sated my tummy. There are so many Indian restaurants in London that it made me much more comfortable.”

Bhatt comes from Bollywood royalty — her father Mahesh Bhatt is a famous director, and her mother Soni Razdan, an actor. Razdan was born in Birmingham, England, and although Bhatt grew up in India, she holds British citizenship and has a home in London.

Her fame follows her globally, but she says she can find parts of London where she can relax in anonymity.

“London has a lot of people from India… walking down Oxford Street won’t be very comfortable for me, you have to find those in-between spots. I do love spending time in London, walking around. I cannot really do that in Mumbai, which is why London is one of my top holiday destinations.”

The 30-year-old actress, who became a mother late last year following her marriage to Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor, has played dozens of different roles since debuting as a child actor at the age of six. A multi-award winner in India, Bhatt has portrayed a victim of drug abuse, an undercover spy, possessive girlfriend and a prostitute among her plethora of roles. Her films have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

She recently moved into production, setting up own production house, Eternal Sunshine in 2021. Eternal’s first production was Netflix’s “Darlings,” alongside Shah Rukh Khan.

Her next project, currently shooting in Mumbai, is thriller “Jigra,” which she is co-producing with India’s long-established Dharma Productions, with a release slated for Sept. 27, 2024.

“We are in the middle of filming. I just wrapped my schedule yesterday and flew out [to Jeddah].”

“It is my first intense thriller – not sure I can talk too much about it – there is some thrill and drama involved,” she added.

Bhatt is also an Indian global brand ambassador for luxury goods firm Gucci, and has her own sustainable clothing brand, Ed-a-Mamma and a charitable eco-initiative, CoExist.

Following her Hollywood debut, she is hoping to do more work in Tinseltown.

During the SAG strike plans to look for new projects were put on hold, but she says she is now reading scripts and is “pretty sure something will materialize soon.”

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