After a distressing week spent in Dubai, amidst the conflict in the Middle East, Bollywood actor Lara Dutta has safely returned to Mumbai with her 14-year-old daughter, Saira Bhupathi. Moving to Dubai three years back for her daughter's tennis training, Lara Dutta described her harrowing journey.
In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Lara Dutta shared her entire journey amidst missiles being intercepted. "It just happened that Saira and I were on our own in Dubai because Mahesh was away in London for work when this war broke out."
"Though everybody had an inkling, until the time actually comes when you have bombs being intercepted right overhead, and you hear these booms that sound like sonic booms, it doesn't feel like it's a close reality. The UAE government is doing such an incredible job of keeping everybody safe, but you can feel safe and protected and anxious and uncertain at the same time."
Lara Dutta On Eventually Being Able To Leave Dubai
"So we chose to take a flight that was flying out of Fujairah, which meant getting on the roads. We hadn't left the house before that; we had these alerts going off on our phones every couple of hours whenever there were missiles being intercepted. The only instructions we were given were to stay indoors."
She also said that they lived about 10 kilometres away from the Jebel Ali port, which was being bombed and hammered every day. "You felt the reverberations every time, even if there was an interception or drone debris hitting the ground."
On finally being able to leave, Lara said she wanted to be with her husband and her family, for which they had to drive all the way to Fujairah. "So we drove two hours on the roads to Fujairah, and just a day earlier, Fujairah port and the oil refinery had been bombed. It was scary."
She also mentions how she jokingly told Akshay Kumar that her situation felt like she was a part of Airlift 2.
Lara Dutta, While At Dubai Airport
Describing her harrowing wait to Hindustan Times, she mentioned how lots of flights were being cancelled. "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 as they were very quick with turnarounds. As we were taking off, we could see this huge orange ball of fire at a very close distance. "
Lara Dutta On Her Emotional Video
The actress opened up on her recent Instagram video and said she normally doesn't upload such videos​ as they create fear or panic. But because she was in a dangerous situation amidst the conflict, she didn't know what was going to be there on the other side and thought about posting the video.
"I had this one percent thought in my head that this could possibly be the last thing that ever goes out. But I am back in India now, and a lot of people reached out and sent a lot of blessings our way."
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