Having celebrated her film’s selection at the Haifa Film Festival, Bollywood actor Nushrratt Bharuccha woke up to the sounds of bombs going off in Tel Aviv. She was briefly stuck in the city as the war between Israel and Hamas raged. “We were woken up to the deafening sounds of bombs going off, a blaring siren, and complete and utter panic as we were all rushed down into a ‘shelter’ in the basement of our hotel,” she said. Israel has likened Hamas’s assault to the 9/11 attacks and has been left reeling. Air India has cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv until October 14. Netanyahu has warned Gaza civilians to get away from all Hamas sites. Bharuccha described the situation on the streets as “extremely dangerous” with open fire on vehicles. However, she received help from unexpected quarters, including her Israeli co-actors, Indian and Israeli embassies, and a taxi driver. She expressed gratitude for being back home safely and thanked the Indian and Israeli governments for their support.
