Windows shake and doors rattle at actress Lara Dutta’s Dubai villa amid airstrikes, but the uncertainty caused by growing tension in West Asia following USA-Israel’s strikes on Iran do not make her feel “unsafe”, she said on Wednesday, lauding the UAE government for looking after their citizens.
“Lots of fighter jets flying overhead, lots of loud booms. Though we live in a villa in a very safe neighbourhood, the windows shake, the house and the doors rattle, and it's unnerving. But I haven't felt unsafe, not even once,” Dutta said.
The 47-year-old actress’s husband, tennis player Mahesh Bhupath i, is not with Dutta and their child as he is away for work, she said.
“I just want to say that the UAE government has done an incredible job. I think, for every single person - I won't speak for anybody else - we felt really looked after. We felt wanted, we felt protected, regardless of our nationality or where we're from. We feel like we count, we matter. The UAE government, as somebody living in this city, is making sure they do everything in their power to protect us and keep us safe. I am amazed. My gardener has been showing up every day, mowing my lawn and tending to the plants. Delivery riders are working,” she said.
Dutta said she has been trying to get flights back to India, but they are currently not available.
But she is hopeful. “We'll figure it out. But yes, I just wanted to say that we were there. I was in India, obviously, when India and Pakistan went to war, and we saw how well our country protected us then. And it's the same here.”
Dutta divides her time between living in Mumbai and Dubai, her “adopted home”.
“No one, no civilian, deserves to live in fear or be caught up in this,” she said.
The Middle East is facing a massive military crisis following a joint US-Israeli strike that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top military commanders in Tehran.
In response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US military bases across the Gulf, causing damage to major hubs like Dubai International Airport.
In an eight-minute video on Truth Social announcing “major combat operations” in Iran, US President Donald Trump told the Iranian people to “take over” their government and described the mission as a “noble” effort to eliminate imminent nuclear and missile threats.
An interim council is currently managing the Iranian state under a declared period of mourning. These tensions have led to widespread airspace closures across the region and sparked violent international protests, including a deadly incident at the US consulate in Karachi.