America Beckons Gangubai: Alia Bhatt to Make Hollywood Debut Opposite Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan in ‘Heart of Stone’

Alia Bhatt is headed to Hollywood. The actress will make her English-language debut in Netflix’s international spy thriller “Heart of Stone.” After dominating the Bollywood scene as one of India’s biggest stars, she joins Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan in the Netflix and Skydance film directed by Tom Harper from a script by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder. The film will be produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger of Skydance, along with Mockingbird’s Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn and Pilot Wave’s Gadot and Jaron Varsano. Harper, Rucka and Patty Whitcher are executive producers. Plot details are being kept under wrap. Deadline reports that the film ‘has been a high priority for Netflix following its competitive auction victory for the project in January 2021.”

Bhatt was most recently seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which had the third-biggest opening last weekend as well as the biggest non-holiday opening for a Bollywood film since the start of the pandemic. The film had its world premiere at the 72nd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, where an audience of nearly 800 gave it a standing ovation.

“Gangubai Kathiawadi” is based on the book “Mafia Queens of Mumbai” written by S. Hussain Zaidi, which follows the rise of a simple girl from Kathiawad who had no choice but to embrace the ways of destiny and swing it in her favor. The film also stars Seema Pahwa and has cameo appearances by Ajay Devgn and Huma Qureshi. Produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada of Pen India Limited, the film is currently playing in theaters across North America.

This is her third film to premiere at Berlinale, along with Imtiaz Ali’s “Highway,” co-starring Randeep Hooda and the 2019 film “Gully Boy” with Ranveer Singh, and was India’s submission for the Best Foreign Film at the Oscars Market.

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This year, Bhatt made her Tamil film debut with S.S. Rajamouli’s period drama “RRR,” starring Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn and Jr. NTR. She will be seen in Ayan Mukherji’s “Brahmastra,” opposite her beau Ranbir Kapoor. The film, seven years in the making, is finally scheduled to release this fall.

She will be teaming up again with her “Gully Boy” co-star Ranveer Singh in “‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” directed by Karan Johar. The film also stars Preity Zinta, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. She is also part of an ensemble cast in “Takht,” also directed by KJo, with Vicky Kaushal, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anil Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Bhumi Pednekar. She is also roped in with Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif for “Jee Le Zaara,” the all-female road trip film directed by Farhan Akhtar.