‘RRR’ Star Alia Bhatt on Why Disney Fantasy Adventure ‘Brahmāstra’ Is a ‘Brave Step Toward the Astraverse’

variety.com:

Shalini Dore Features News EditorAlia Bhatt, the U.K.-born star of Hindi films, has had a busy year. She toplined and produced dark comedy “Darlings” on Netflix, which according to the streamer, scored the biggest opening for a non-English-language film globally.

She also toplines “RRR,” which earned lots of fans in the West when it streamed on Netflix earlier this summer. She kicked off 2022 at the Berlin Film Festival with “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” based on “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” and just finished shooting Tom Harper’s “Heart of Stone,” co-starring with Gal Gadot.

On Sept. 9, Disney is releasing “Brahmāstra: Part One — Shiva” worldwide. The fantasy adventure, in which she stars opposite her husband, Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor, features an Indian cinematic universe, the Astraverse. “It’s the first of its kind; it’s a very brave, big giant step [in] that direction,” she says. “It is inspired deeply by Indian mythology and Indian culture and our scriptures and is basically the essence of India.” • How did “Heart of Stone” come about? My team sent me the script, and they said, “You know they would like for you to read the script, and if [you’re] interested we can get you to Zoom-meet with the director.” Thanks to Zoom, a lot of this has become possible.

You don’t have to fly [to a meeting]. You don’t have to do an in-person meeting. You can do a virtual meeting. I read the script, and of course I heard that Gal was going to be starring in it and was also producing it, which I was extremely excited about because I am such a huge admirer of her work and just the person, the force that she is.• What draws you to a role? For me, what is most important is that if I am to come on board as an actor, I have to be 100% convinced