Sidharth Malhotra to Kriti Sanon: After Shah Rukh Khan, these stars are making Delhi proud, Bollywood style!

Four years ago, Kriti Sanon moved bag and baggage to Mumbai. Post her debut film Heropanti (2014), the leggy lass, who attended Delhi Public School in the capital and later pursued an engineering degree, was noticed by filmmakers who wanted to sign her up. Four films old in Bollywood now, she’s made Mumbai her home, even buying a place for herself in Andheri where she resides with her sister, Nupur. But she misses home and craves for the amazing mithais that the capital is known for. “Delhi sweets are to die for! I love chamcham, milkcake and kaju katli. My mom brings them for me and my friends,” she told us recently.

South Delhi boy Sidharth Malhotra’s favourite haunts were GK Market, Defence Colony and Saket. After completing his graduation from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College from Delhi University, he came to Mumbai in 2007 to pursue a career in acting and stayed in a co-sharing apartment with a friend. Before he made his debut with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year in 2012, he assisted the filmmaker on My Name Is Khan. Movies such as Hasee Toh Phasee, Ek Villain, Kapoor & Sons and A Gentleman among others followed but Sid remains a Dilli da munda at heart. “I haven’t changed a bit. I feel and think in the same middle-class way that my Delhi upbringing made me think in all these years,” he had told After Hrs earlier in an interview.

While attending a promotional event at her alma mater, Gargi College in New Delhi, Sanya Malhotra had declared, “Delhi is pyaar because I was born and brought up here, but I love Mumbai.” No wonder, the capital-bred actress bought her own place in Andheri, having established her mark in Bollywood with movies such as Dangal, Pataakha and Badhaai Ho. The trained ballet dancer, who belongs to a Punjabi Khatri family, recently celebrated Diwali with her family in Delhi, after a gap of three years.

Born and raised in the capital by her businessman father and teacher-turned-marketing executive mother, the tall and lanky Vaani Kapoor became a known face post a couple of modelling campaigns. The two-film-old actress — who has Siddharth Anand’s next with Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff and Shamshera opposite Ranbir Kapoor in her kitty — made Mumbai her base, but looks like the actress can’t stop missing Dilli ka khana, especially butter chicken and rajma chawal. “Delhi is epic when it comes to food,” she has been quoted saying.

Although he started his acting career on the small screen and was a popular face there as well, this Delhi lad’s eyes were set on Bollywood. Then Kai Po Che! happened in 2013, and within a few years, Amit has made some impressive choices, whether it was Sarkar 3 with Amitabh Bachchan or Gold with Akshay Kumar and more recently, the web series Breathe with R Madhavan. That’s a long way for the Punjabi boy, who once worked as a security personnel at a store in Delhi and even washed utensils in people’s homes! “Although Mumbai is a city that allows you to fulfill your dreams, I have a great bond with Delhi because that’s where the seeds of those dreams were planted,” says Amit, adding, “I have been in Mumbai for 12 years now, but I have a lot of friends in Delhi who supported me during my struggling days. Delhi is where my heart is.”

If there’s one actress who’s only gone from strength to strength, it’s Swara Bhasker. Known for speaking her mind, she moved on from the unsuccessful Madholal Keep Walking to being noticed for her role in Tanu Weds Manu and her award-winning act in Nil Battey Sannata. Born and brought up in Delhi, Swara was part of a theatre group, when she decided to shift to Mumbai to try her luck in movies. Armed with a Bachelors degree in English from Delhi University and a Masters in Sociology, the no-nonsense Swara has managed to make the film industry sit up and take notice of her talent. But her marker for success, as she once told a leading publication, “We used to travel in autos and see photographs of all these superstars on entire panels in the autos. That’s my marker for success — to have my picture in a Delhi auto.” Pretty sure that’s come true by now!

Although she moved to Bengaluru a couple of years after she was born, for Kriti Kharbanda, it’s Delhi that’s home. The actress resided at Punjabi Bagh, close to Rajouri Garden, where she would often go to shop or eat. Kriti, who started her acting journey with Kannada and Telugu films, moved on to Bollywood with the 2016 thriller Raaz: Reboot, and eventually was noticed for her girl-next-door act in Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. Next is Housefull 4 for the girl who makes it a point to visit Moti Nagar for her favourite kulfi, each time she’s back in the capital.