Bollywood actress Lara Dutta was among several Indian celebrities stuck in Dubai during the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. She earlier shared a video on social media expressing her anxiety about being caught
in the middle of the rising tensions in Middle East. Thankfully, Lara and her 14-year-old daughter, Saira, have now safely returned to Mumbai, India. In an interview with Hindustan Times, she mentioned that she normally refrains from posting such videos to avoid sparking panic. Lara recounted the ‘dangerous journey back’ she undertook with her daughter, uncertain of what lay ahead. She reflected on their experience of making it back home.
Lara Dutta Returns To India Amid Iran-Israel War
In an interview with HT, Lara Dutta shared that when the war began, she and Saira were alone in Dubai, while her husband Mahesh Bhupathi was in London for work. Lara had moved to Dubai so her daughter could train with an elite tennis coach based there. Amid the escalating tensions, she praised the UAE government for their exceptional efforts in ensuring everyone’s safety. Describing their return to India, Lara mentioned that they took a flight from Fujairah.
“We lived just about 10 kms away from the Jebel Ali Port, which was being bombed every day. So we decided to take a chance, as I wanted to be with my husband and my family. We drove two hours to Fujairah, and just a day earlier, Fujairah port and the oil refinery had been bombed. It was scary, I am not going to lie about it. I was joking with my co-star Akshay Kumar that I felt like I was part of Airlift 2,” she said.
Lara also mentioned that they could hear explosions at the airport, hoping nothing would be hit. “Hats off to the airlines as well. I am very sure my daughter is going to have some amount of trauma after this experience,” she said.
Lara Dutta On Posting The Video From Dubai
Addressing her earlier emotional video posted from Dubai, Lara Dutta said, “The reason for me to do that video, it’s a personal reason. Maybe it sounds stupid to other people but I was going to undertake, for me, what I was going to be quite a dangerous journey back with my daughter alone. And we didn’t really know what was going to be on the other side of that. Because it was really uncertain times. Nobody has ever seen something like this in the UAE. The reason that I wanted to put that video out was just a 1 percent thought in my head that it could possibly be the last thing that ever goes out.”
Lara Dutta Expresses Gratitude To UAE Government
In the video posted last week from Dubai, she thanked the UAE government for their efforts. In her video, she noted that the government did everything possible to protect people. For those unaware, Lara has been living in Dubai for three years.
“We ran out of the studio and saw missiles being intercepted in the sky. I can’t lie… it’s been stressful for the past few days. It’s been scary. There are jets flying overhead, lots of loud booms,” she said in the video.
Apart from Lara, other Indian celebrities such as Sonal Chauhan, Esha Gupta, Nargis Fakhri, Vishnu Manchu, and Ajith Kumar were also stranded in Dubai.
