LARA’S RETURN FROM DUBAI: FELT LIKE AIRLIFT 2

Actor Lara Dutta Bhupathi, who has safely returned to India, opens up about how she made her journey back home
Sonal Kalra (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 13, 2026)

Among many Indians stranded in the UAE during the bombings in the midst of the ongoing US Israel Iran war was actor Lara Dutta Bhupathi. After posting an emotional video on social media about the situation she was facing in Dubai, the actor is now safely back in India. Excerpts from her conversation on The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra:

What was going through your mind when you decided to speak about the incident in that video?
I normally don’t put out videos like that, as you don’t want to create panic. But I was undertaking a dangerous journey back with my daughter (Saira, 14), and we didn’t know what was awaiting us. I had this 1% thought that this could possibly be the last thing that ever goes out.

My daughter has been playing tennis since she was seven, and three years ago, we made a choice to move to Dubai to allow her to train with an elite coach who’s based there. Saira and I were on our own because (husband) Mahesh (Bhupathi, tennis player) was away in London for work when this war broke out. Until the time you actually have bombs being intercepted overhead, it doesn’t feel like it’s a close reality. However, the UAE government is doing an incredible job of keeping everybody safe.

How did you eventually manage to come out?
So we chose to take a flight from Fujairah. We hadn’t left the house until then. The only instructions we were given were to stay indoors. 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 was joking with my co-star Akshay Kumar that I felt like I was part of Airlift 2.

Even at the airport, you could hear these booms, and you were just hoping that nothing was struck. Hats off to the airlines, as well. I am very sure my daughter is going to have some amount of trauma after this experience.

What’s been going through Saira’s mind? How has she reacted to this?
I come from a fauji family, and we’ve lived through a couple of wars. The first thing that I did was ask my staff to stock up immediately. I packed a bag as I felt that if at some point of time, the government asks us to evacuate, I had to have a bag ready. Saira created a little space for herself underneath the staircase in the house. She had a sleeping bag, pillows and other essentials under there, and every time the alerts went off, that’s where we were going until it was safe to step out again.

You were quite emotional in your video. Was it an overall sadness about how things have turned out?
The sadness wasn’t about what was going on because we definitely felt protected and safe. But for me, it was the futility of what war is. We might feel that in India, we are very protected, but people are going to feel the repercussions come what may. I could see people who didn’t have the opportunities that I do. For me, it was the helplessness that there’s not really much that I can do. But in times like this, there’s no right or wrong way to move.

What is that one thing that you’d want to say to the people still stuck in the Middle East?
I do believe that the government is doing everything in their power, so I would just say follow the instructions. It is the best thing that you can do to keep yourself safe.

When we were in Dubai, I had another friend with two kids whose husband was away. They lived in a high-rise, so the first day when the Fairmont hotel was hit in Jumeirah, I asked her to get out. She came and stayed with us. So, while the flights were very few and expensive, I refused to leave without them. I even brought my house staff back, whom I had taken from India with me. It’s mentally very hard, so all that we can do is pray and hope that some sanity returns to the world really quickly.