Alia: ‘We come from a school of thought that woman-led action film won’t do well’

Mumbai, Aug 10  Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt is all set to make her international debut with ‘Heart Of Stone’, where she will be seen playing the antagonist in the Gal Gadot-starrer.

Portraying Keya Dhawan, a fiercely intelligent tech prodigy adopted by an Indian pharma billionaire after her parents’ untimely death, Alia embraces this challenging role in a high-octane thriller exploring espionage and cyber warfare. With dedication and commitment to authenticity, her portrayal of Keya Dhawan, one of the world’s most talented and dangerous hackers, is expected to captivate the global audience and cement her status as an international talent.

Speaking about her role in Heart of Stone, Alia shared: “What’s amazing is how the narrative throughout the world is changing. I’ve experienced that even back in India, where I headlined this film called Gangubai, which did really well in theaters and on Netflix all over the world. And this was a film that was headlined by a woman.”

“We come from a certain school of thinking that a woman-led film in an action franchise won’t do very well.”

She added: “But I think Gal shattered that myth when she did Wonder Woman. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the characters and what you’re putting out there. So, similarly to HEART OF STONE, when we met and chatted about it, she said, ‘You don’t really see a spy thriller action franchise that is led by women, so I wanted to start something on my own.’ I love that thought. It was so unique, relevant, and current.”

‘Heart of Stone’ debuts on August 11, on Netflix. The film also stars Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan in this action-packed spy thriller.

Directed by Tom Harper, the show follows an intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.