World premiere for Shah Rukh movie in Abu Dhabi

If Bollywood is any barometer, Abu Dhabi could emerge as a big player on the world's entertainment map.

My Name is Khan, one of the industry's most anticipated films in recent times, will have a world premiere in the UAE capital on February 10, distributors told Emirates Business.

The film reunites A-list Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, a hit pairing responsible for some of Bollywood's highest earners, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, both classics of modern Hindi cinema.

"My Name is Khan, at its core, an epic love story between two people who have a unique way of seeing the world, but what sets it apart is the landscape on which the story unfolds," Johar said. He is perhaps the most successful contemporary Indian filmmaker.

The premiere is the result of a deal between UAE production fund Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Fox Star Studios, a joint venture between Twentieth Century Fox and Asian media company Star to produce ocal-language films in India for worldwide distribution.

Imagenation Chairman Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei described the movie as a powerful and important film "that the world must see".

"We expect solid business in the Indian diaspora territories in which Fox is releasing the film," Linda Picard, Head of Marketing Middle East, Empire International, told this newspaper.

Empire International is the Middle East distributor of the film in partnership with Phars Film. "We expect it to be one of the highest-grossing Bollywood productions in the UAE."

In My Name Is Khan, Shah Rukh Khan plays Rizvan Khan, an unconventional hero who embarks on an incredible journey across America to win back the love of his life.

Perhaps more important is the subtext, which examines the relationship between the Western world and Islam has changed in recent years through one family's journey and how 9/11 impacted their lives.

"The movie is a powerful reflection of the current state of racial profiling and discrimination pre- and post 9/11 in the US, which is told in an accessible and entertaining way," said Edward Borgerding, Imagenation Abu Dhabi CEO.

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