Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt starring Heart of Stone to release in 2023 - how is she linked to Birmingham?

Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, 29, will be starring in the Netflix movie Heart of Stone - which has Gal Gadot in the lead role. Bhatt - one of the most popular actresses in Bollywood currently - recently got married to longtime beau Ranbir Kapoor, 40. The couple welcomed their first child, Raha, in 2022.

Alia, the daughter of veteran actress Soni Razdan and movie producer Mahesh Bhatt, is a British citizen just like her mother. Soni, 66, started her Bollywood career in the early 1980s.

The actress was born to a British-German mother, Gertrude Hoelzer, and an Indian Kashmiri Pandit father, called Narendra Nath Razdan, in Birmingham’s Small Heath.

Both Soni and Alia retain their British citizenships even though India doesn’t allow for dual citizenship. Although Soni was born in Birmingham, she grew up in Mumbai and went on to work in Bollywood before marrying Mahesh in 1986. Little is reported about her time in Small Heath.

Alia has been part of many movies like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Brahmastra Part one - Shiva, RRR (which has been nominated in the Oscars in the best original song category) which has been blockbuster hits.

One of India’s highest-paid actresses, she has appeared in Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was awarded the TIME100 Impact Award in 2022.

Soni’s grandfather and Alia’s maternal great-grandfather - Karl Hoelzer - reportedly took on the Nazi’s by running an underground newspaper against Hitler. Soni said in an interview: “He was not Jewish but he was against fascism.”

Alia and Ranbir

The couple started dating in 2017 after meeting on the sets of Brahmastra Part one - Shiva. The film finally released in September 2022 after facing delays due to the Covid19 pandemic.

It went on to earn Rs. 425m (£42m) worldwide and is considered one of the successful movies of 2022 in Bollywood. The next instalment of the film is not expected until December 2025.

Ranbir Kapoor’s family also has a long legacy in Bollywood with his grandfather - Raj Kapoor being known as the Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema. Ranbir’s father, cousins, uncles, and mother - all of them were or still are actors who are active in the industry.

Together, Ranbir and Alia’s net worth is around Rs.800m (£80m).