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19 March 2024

Dubai is celeb central: 55 international stars in one month

Bollywood director Farah Khan's 'Happy New Year' cast in Dubai, (L-R) Boman Irani, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan. (AGENCIES)

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By Bindu Suresh Rai

Snap open that Prada bag and reach for those Chanel glasses as star-studded bling will transform Dubai into celebrity central with 55 international artistes jetting through the city all this month.

From Selena Gomez, John Travolta, and Will.I.Am to Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor, the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and all that glitters in between will be dropping anchor on these shores in a bevy of celebrity appearances, award shows, concerts and film shoots.

Emirates 24|7 grabs that camera and embarks on a celebrity hunt, with all the scoop, insider gossip and more.

Director Farah Khan (L) in the sets of 'Happy New Year'. (Twitter)

Lights. Camera. Action

If you were crawled under a rock these past few days, then you may be forgiven for missing out on the biggest Bollywood film shoot of the decade, with director-choreographer Farah Khan wielding the baton for the first schedule of ‘Happy New Year’.

Filming at the Atlantis The Palm, along with the Dubai Mall over the weekend, she has only managed to rope in industry superstar Shah Rukh Khan as her main lead, along with the latest Rs200-crore girl and the latest name to join Hollywood after bagging ‘Fast and Furious 7’, Deepika Padukone.

Joining the celebrity duo is Abhishek Bachchan, sans wife Aishwarya and daughter Aradhaya, who brought traffic to a standstill in Surat.

Also starring in this romcom is Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Sarah Jane Dias.

Over the next few weeks, you will certainly catch the starry names at Nobu, Ronda Locatelli, whilst spinning circles at the Dubai Mall ice rink for their shoot.

Meanwhile, Ameesha Patel has also hopped on a plane for Dubai, scouting around to start shooting for her first production ‘Desi Magic’, where else, but in Dubai.

From what we know, Zayed Khan will play the lead, along with Sahil Shroff, and dear friend Bachchan will be making a special appearance.

Meanwhile, celebrity designer Manish Malhotra will be shuttling between Padukone’s costumes and designing Patel’s ensembles for her shoot, as naturally, her production will see her star as the female lead.

Actress-singer Selena Gomez during the Teen Choice Awards 2013 at Gibson Amphitheatre on August 11, 2013 in Universal City, California. (AP)

Mega concerts in store

After Justin Bieber bringing Dubai to a standstill, who better than his on again, off again girlfriend, Selena Gomez, making way into the emirate for a mega concert of her own, during Dubai Music Week.

In support of her highly anticipated summer album ‘Stars Dance’, multi-platinum-selling singer, actress and former Disney Channel star, will be in Dubai for her September 26 concert.

Having over 16 million Twitter followers, Gomez is set to perform the latest singles from her highly anticipated solo album which debuted at number one on the Billboards charts, including the number one smash hit, ‘Come and Get It’ and latest release ‘Slow Down’, as well as favourites such as ‘Love You like a Love Song’, which sold over four million copies in the US alone.

Dubai Music Week, a venture between partners, Global Gumbo Group (G3) and DXB Live, in collaboration with Dubai World Trade Centre, will also see music superstars, will.i.am and Timbaland on the September 27.

Dubai Music Week will also host X Factor Arabia winner Mohammad Rifi later this month.

The singer will speak at a music industry conference discussing his rise to fame.

Meanwhile, the legendary music producer Quincy Jones, the man behind the rise and fame of Michael Jackson, will kick of Dubai Music Week by hosting seminars that will give valuable insight into launching the superstar.

Joining him will be Rod Temperton, Bruce Swedien and Siedah Garrett.

And the award goes to...

On September 12 and 13, all roads will lead to the South Indian International Movie Awards or SIIMA, with everyone who’s anyone attending this awards weekend, which will pay tribute to film from the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema.

Who are the stars attending you ask? Who isn’t, we say.

Rana Daggubati, Shirya Sharan and Arya are hosting the show, which will see performances by Shruti Haasan, Hansika Motwani, along with Ragini, Pranita, Richa Gangopadhyay, Remya Nambeesan, Parul Yadav, Andrea, Lakshmi Menon, Regina Cassandra and Meera Nandanhave.

Singers Usha Uthup and Anirudh Ravichander will also croon on stage.

As for those attending, well, its Sridevi, along with husband Boney Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Sohail Khan, Mohanlal, Dhanush, Vidyut Jamwal, Asin, Simran, Khushboo, Prithviraj, Puneet Rajkumar, Kajal Agarwal, Trisha, Simbu, Nayanthara, Priyamani, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Charmee Kaur, Lakshmi Manchu, Shwetha Menon and more.

Phew!

The stars are staying in Dubai, with the show being held at the Sharjah Expo Centre.

Tickets are priced at Dh60 (Silver), Dh150 (Gold) and Dh1,000 (VIP, inclusive of celebrity area seating on both days).

Actors Ileana D’cruz and Shahid Kapoor looked charming at a press meet for their upcoming film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero on July, 26 2013. Browse through. (AFP)

Celebrity appearance

Ahead of their SIIMA appearance, Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz will be meeting the press and fans to promote their upcoming, ‘Phata Poster Nikla Hero’.

The duo, which is starring in the romcom directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, will be jetting into the emirate on September 12 in the morning hours before meeting the media.

A public event will be hosted at the Arabian Centre, where fans can visit the two stars who are also expected to shake a leg on the some of the film’s top songs.

The event, which is organised by Dream Advertising and Ministry of Events, is free to the public and will take place approximately 6.30pm at the mall.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston (BANG)

Face off with John Travolta:

Two-time Oscar nominee, two-time Golden Globe winner and Qantas ambassador-at-Large John Travolta will visit Dubai this week to explore Qantas’ new international hub for flights to London and Australia.

Travolta’s visit will mark his first trip to the UAE, where he will embark on a week long programme of touring and corporate hospitality for the airline.

The actor said he was excited to visit the Middle Eastern metropolis and was looking forward to experiencing Dubai’s diverse range of culture, cuisine and architecture.

“I’m really excited, I’ve been wanting to experience Dubai for many years now, and the launch of Qantas services to Dubai has given me the perfect opportunity to do so,” he said in a statement.