BAFTA-winning actor Hugh Grant recently reminisced about his time in India while promoting his upcoming film, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Grant shared a humorous and poignant story from his experience filming the French drama La Nuit Bengali in Kolkata in 1988.
Grant, who was in his 20s at the time, recounted arriving alone at the airport and waiting for his ride. “I went to the baggage carousel, and everyone else picked up their bags and left. It was just me, left alone with my bag, feeling very sad,” he said. The situation took an unexpected turn when an 11-year-old boy approached him, introducing himself as the driver for the film. “I said, ‘Are you sure?’ and he confidently replied, ‘Yes, I am your driver for the whole film.’”
Despite his initial doubts about the boy’s ability to drive, Grant was ultimately taken aback when the child proved he could indeed operate the vehicle. However, within just four days, the young driver crashed the car. “Oh, no! Well, he was 11,” Grant laughed, reflecting on the incident.
The film La Nuit Bengali, directed by Nicholas Klotz, also featured prominent actors such as Soumitra Chatterjee, Supriya Pathak, and Shabana Azmi. Grant described his experience in India during that time as “strange,” and humorously recounted meeting the young driver again two months later. “I bumped into him in the street in Calcutta. I said, ‘How are you? What’s happening?’ He replied, ‘Oh, yes, sir, now I’m driving a school bus,’” Grant chuckled.
In addition to his nostalgic tales from Kolkata, Grant provided insights into his role in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, set to release on Valentine’s Day 2025. He characterized the film as both humorous and deeply emotional, stating, “As well as being extremely funny, it’s very, very sad.” This instalment marks the fourth film in the beloved Bridget Jones’s Diary series, with Grant returning as the charming yet flawed Daniel Cleaver alongside Renée Zellweger.
Interestingly, Grant did not participate in the previous film, Bridget Jones’s Baby, but expressed that filmmakers were eager to include him in this new project. He noted that he initially had concerns about his character’s storyline but worked with producers to create a narrative that felt appropriate for Cleaver, now in his 60s. “You can’t just have him smoothing his way down King’s Road eyeing up young girls,” he remarked.
The screenplay for Mad About the Boy is based on the latest book by Helen Fielding, the original author of the Bridget Jones novels.