Bollywood star Alia Bhatt to make Hollywood debut alongside Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan

The thriller 'Heart of Stone' is set to feature an international cast of actors and is being planned as a female spin on popular spy franchises

Alia Bhatt joins a growing list of Bollywood stars making their mark in Hollywood. EPA

Fresh off her acclaimed turn as a mafia queen in the semi-biographical Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bollywood star Alia Bhatt has announced she's making her Hollywood debut in Heart of Stone, a spy thriller, alongside Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan.

The Netflix film, to be directed by British filmmaker Tom Harper, of Peaky Blinders fame, will also feature an international cast including German actor and Army of the Dead's breakout star Matthias Schweighofer, Jing Lusi of Crazy Rich Asians and British actress Sophie Okonedo, who's also in Death on the Nile, currently out in cinemas.

While there are no plot details yet for Heart of Stone, the film is planned as a female spin on popular spy franchises, including Mission: Impossible and James Bond. Wonder Woman star Gadot, who was the first big name to be signed, has already begun filming in the UK.

On Tuesday, she shared a video from the set, along with her character's name. "Rachel Stone. Nice to meet you," she posted.

With Heart of Stone, Bhatt joins a growing list of Bollywood stars making their mark in Hollywood. While Priyanka Chopra is the most recognisable name for international audiences, her peers have also been cast in major roles in Hollywood productions in recent times.

Deepika Padukone played one of the leads in Vin Diesel's 2017 action franchise XXX: Return of Xander Cage, while actor Ali Fazal was cast opposite Judi Dench in the period film in 2017's Victoria & Abdul. Fazal, who also starred in the 2015 hit Furious 7, can also be seen in Kenneth Branagh's starry mystery film Death on the Nile, which also features Gadot.

South Indian superstar Dhanush will soon be seen in the Russo brothers' action thriller The Gray Man, alongside Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, scheduled to be released in July on Netflix.

Bhatt, who made her Bollywood debut in Student of the Year in 2012, has established herself as one of the top actors in the country, with acclaimed roles in films such as Highway (2014), Udta Punjab (2016), Raazi (2018) and Gully Boy (2019).

In Gangubai Kathiawadi, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and currently showing in cinemas, she portrays real-life gangster Ganga Harjivandas Kathiawadi, a mafia head in 1960s Bombay, whose rags-to-riches story was documented in the 2011 book Mafia Queens of Mumbai.

Bhatt has received glowing reviews for the film, which trade analyst Taran Adarsh said on Monday was inching close to the one billion rupees mark.