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28 March 2024

Bollywood's biggest stars make a beeline for Dubai

Salman Khan, Bipasha Basu and Shah Rukh (AGENCIES)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

Another year sees yet another bevy of Bollywood bigwigs down on our shores to party, promote or simply to enjoy five minutes of peace before the tinseltown mayhem begins in 2012.

The year has already begun with a bang, as reliable sources confirm that Shah Rukh Khan, wife Gauri and the kids were down on The Palm Jumeirah to ring in the New Year festivities, and are expected to depart today.

Also allegedly joining them were close friends Hrithik and Sussane Roshan, along with Arjun and Mehr Jessia Rampal and kids.

The dazzle on The Palm was further enhanced, not by the fireworks mind you, but further gossip that a few fronds down, Shah Rukh’s enemy number one, Salman Khan was also in Dubai with his family after forking over an alleged Dh75,000 for a week to stay on the island, according to insiders.

Actors Ajay Devgn and wife Kajol was also said to be here with their kids, along with R Madhavan and his wife for New Year celebrations.

But now that the holidays are firmly behind us, it’s back to business and the first week of January is continuing its top draw for Bollywood stars even as the first planeload of party revellers departs.

On January 4, the world premiere of “Players” in Dubai will see the gold carpet rolled out as Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Neil Nitin Mukesh strut into the spotlight at Grand Cineplex from 7.30pm.

Sadly, Bobby Deol fans will be disappointed because the actor has decided to give the official remake of “The Italian Job” a miss due to unconfirmed reasons.

As the dust settles on the action thriller’s premiere, two days later on January 6 will see Dubai Festival City playing host to the Ujala Asianet Awards 2012 hosted by the Malayalam TV channel to honour artistic and technical excellence in the Malayalam Film industry.

Confirmed on the red carpet are Vidya Balan, Asin, Jaya Prada, along with Southern superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal, Dileep, Prithviraj and Jayaram.

And fans of the viral hit, “Kolaveri Di” are in for a treat because singer, actor, producer, Dhanush, is slated to perform at this event.

Tickets are priced at Dh1000, Dh500, Dh200, Dh100, and Dh50.

With the first week of January requiring sunglasses to protect oneself against the razzle dazzle of the stars, one can only expect the following months to be just as spectacular.

While we wait for confirmations, a sneaky look into our crystal ball sees Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor head down here for the world premiere of “Agent Vinod” in March, followed by the return of Salman Khan to Dubai for the premiere of “Ek Tha Tiger” in August for Eid Al Fitr.

Here’s keeping our fingers crossed.

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