If there were a thematic thread running through this year’s International Indian Film Academy Awards, it would be "one India, one industry, one voice," as actor Rana Daggubati, one of the six co-hosts of IIFA Utsavam, succinctly expressed on Friday night. The event celebrated the best and brightest talents from South India, across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinemas.
Although admittedly overlong and disjointed, the event’s spirit was mutual empowerment, with many top awards for films of every language honoured, not only by popular presenters from within their associated industry, but beyond it – including Bollywood’s Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Vivek Oberoi and producer-director Karan Johar, to name a few.
Part of a three-day weekend, the third IIFA Utsavam is also its global first, with its previous instalments being held in Hyderabad, India. Packed with an all-star line-up, Utsavam had the likes of actors like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, veteran actor Shabana Azmi, her husband, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar, actor-director and dance sensation Prabhu Deva and IIFA Rocks co-hosts Siddhant Chaturvedi and Abhishek Banerjee in attendance.
Veteran actor Nassar exclaimed on the green carpet that he couldn’t be more proud to see South Indian cinema being given a global platform in Abu Dhabi, adding, “We’re at an age where we don’t need to distinguish between film industries any more. There’s no Bollywood or Tollywood; it’s all Indian cinema.”
Following that philosophy was pan-Indian director Priyadarshan – known best for his Malayalam language psychological horror-thriller Manichitrathazhu, and Hindi-language comedies like Hera Pheri and Hungama – being honoured with the Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema title.
Keeping his tone tongue-in-cheek in his acceptance speech, he jokingly suggested, “I should probably call myself the brand ambassador of IIFA, keeping in mind its philosophy of bringing its Indian cinema together.” It sounds like a tall order, but for the director, it really isn’t. In his four-decade-long career, he’s made more than 95 films in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
While he did acknowledge his filmography – unbound by language – he made sure to give his roots a shoutout: “Malayalis, you are my backbone and you’ve brought me to where I am now. I couldn’t be more thankful,” he said.
Other esteemed honorees included Telugu cinema’s two biggest names: megastar Chiranjeevi, who led the critically well-received and commercially successful action film Waltair Veeraiya last year, and veteran actor and politician Nandamuri Balakrishna, whose previous film Bhagavanth Kesari was also nominated four times at this year’s Utsavam.
Music composer Devi Sri Prasad, or DSP as he's popularly known, also put up an impactful and highly entertaining show as part of the event’s entertainment line-up. He expressed his deep gratitude and honour for Chiranjeevi, who was recently named by Guinness World Record as "the Most Prolific Indian Star". Azmi, who jointly presented the award to the star, stated: “I wish I was seated so I could give you an actual standing ovation myself.”
Johar, who presented the award to Balakrishna, found himself whipping up an impromptu mock talk-show parodying his Koffee With Karan series. But the sincerest part of the presentation was the actor’s acceptance speech, in which he credited his “producers, directors, and everyone in every technical team,” exclaiming: “You’ve all been majorly behind who and where I am today.”
Other highlights included a dance performance by prominent actress Raashii Khanna, whose filmography includes movies across the Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi languages – as her last big-ticket appearance was opposite Siddharth Malhotra in the Johar-produced Hindi-language action thriller Yodha earlier this year – and an extended flashy dance routine by Prabhu Deva.
Possibly the biggest highlight of this year’s Utsavam awards was Mani Ratnam’s two-part Tamil-language historical epic Ponniyin Selvan, the second instalment of which bagged as many as 13 nominations. It won in notable categories, including Best Leading Actress for Rai Bachchan, Best Leading Actor for Vikram, while Oscar winner Rahman won in dual categories of Best Music Director and Background Score Composer. Actor Jayaram won Best Male Supporting Actor.
Both Rai Bachchan and Vikram dedicated their respective awards to Ratnam, with the former exclaiming: “It’s all you, and it’s always been all you, right from [Rai’s acting debut film] Iruvar.” Sharing their mutual sentiment was Rahman, who said the director “brings out the best in all of us”.
Notable key wins also included Mrunal Thakur, seen recently in a blink-and-you’ll-miss role in the mega-budget sci-fi action film Kalki 2898AD, bagging the Best Telugu Actress award for Hi Nanna, Telugu star Nani getting the Best Telugu Actor Award for Dasara, and actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu being honoured with the Woman of the Year Award.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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