Aditi Rao Hydari’s home is a soft, lived-in reflection of who she is. You’re met with warmth, kindness, and the subtle beauty of a place that’s been thoughtfully loved into being.
“I know that I work in a profession which is a lot about compliments — the way that you look or the way that you act. But for me, one of the biggest compliments is when people walk into this house and they are comfortable, and they feel like this is their home.”
And that comfort isn’t an accident. For Aditi, it all comes down to intent. “You can’t fake that… you can’t pretend, you can’t create that with objects. You can only create that with your heart and your intention.”
From the get-go, her living room feels more like a cocoon, “I inhabit this room a lot… It’s also a very intimate space for me,” Hydari says in a video for Asian Paints.
Perhaps one of the most heartwarming moments on the tour is when Aditi recalls the dollhouse her father once made for her as a child.
“You know, it’s so weird, like when I was little, my father, when he was not making cars and not working, he also made me this incredible doll’s house which had lights and it had a spiral staircase and it had proper bedrooms and beds and little people in it. And when I walked into this place, I was literally like — this is my doll’s house!,” the actor said. “So strange how, you know, somewhere in your subconscious you have this vision or idea, and then you see it, and then you’re like — this is it! I literally manifested that little doll’s house.”
And just like that dollhouse, this one too feels delicate, soft, and made just for her. “It’s got a miniature quality to it. It’s almost like a large house that was made into a house for me.”
Story continues below this ad
She laughs when she thinks of how tall guests might feel in her compact home. “When a tall person walks through this door, I’m just like—how will they fit?”
But it’s not just the scale of the space that matters; it’s the feeling inside. “It’s a very kind home and a very generous, happy home.” “I think I’ve imbibed that from my home in Hyderabad… from my grandmother, my mother, my mama.”
Her deep affection for light seeps into every corner, literally. “There’s a lot of windows in this home… and I love light. I can just sit and stare into nothingness.”
Her interiors are gentle. “It was an instinctive decision… I had this in my head that I wanted sheer curtains. There’s a kind of lightness, you know.”
Story continues below this ad
And even her tiny sit-out, nestled away in a city like Mumbai, feels like a secret slice of calm. “This sit-out is cozy. Especially in Bombay, to have a little open space is really special.”
Her home also houses her love for art. “If I like something and if I really want it, I usually buy it… because I’m like this vibes with me. If I can afford it, I’ll buy it.”
In the elevated dining nook, she finds joy in one of her favourite things: feeding people. “It’s where all the food and actually the lounging around happens. I love feeding people. Even if they’re not hungry, I force-feed them. It’s a very bad habit—but it’s a thing with me.”
Her bedroom, by contrast, is uncluttered and restful. “This is a place where you need peace and quiet… I don’t have too many things, I don’t even have paintings in this room.”
Story continues below this ad
But perhaps the most beautiful part of Aditi’s home is how she sees the process of making it. “For me, it’s really about finding harmony in chaos… just like film. Design is also like that, it’s about picking the things that I like, putting them in a space, living with it, breathing with it.”
“In the chaos of designing and making a home your home, there is a lot of beauty. You find your home as you live in it,” Aditi ended by saying.
