Veteran Indian actor Kamal Haasan, who is currently in Dubai to promote his highly anticipated film Vikram, will attend a special preview of the action thriller, which will be beamed on to the facade of Burj Khalifa on Wednesday.
The actor will watch the projection from the balcony of the Address Downtown, and interact with fans gathered around the Dubai Fountain. The preview, held in partnership with Reel Cinemas, is scheduled to start at 8.10pm.
Haasan, 67, who began his career as a child actor in Tamil films in the 1960s, is beloved all over India, having made successful inroads into many industries, including Bollywood.
Vikram, a Tamil-language film, has been eagerly awaited, owing to its star-studded cast. Besides Haasan, the film stars two South Indian superstars — Vijay Sethupathi, known predominantly for his work in Tamil films, and Fahadh Faasil, the acclaimed actor known mostly for his Malayalam films. Tamil superstar Suriya is also set to star in a cameo.
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Vikram tells the story of a retired police officer who's called back into action after two brothers, a gangster and a politician, capture a high-ranking official.
Haasan plays the protagonist Arun Kumar Vikram, who goes up against Sethupathi's and Faasil's characters in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that soon blurs the lines between who's right and who's wrong.
First announced in 2020, production for the big-budget film has been delayed several times owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Haasan tested positive for Covid-19 in November, further delaying the shoot.
In the past few weeks, the actor, who's also a producer for the film, has been on a promotional tour, and was also at the Cannes Film Festival this month.
He told Indian news agency PTI he was confident of the film's appeal across India and beyond. Vikram has been dubbed in several Indian languages.
"Our country is unique. Unlike America, we speak different languages but we are united. That’s the beauty of this country," he said. "It [Vikram] is a pan-India film for me.
Working with Faasil and Sethupathi was like "a good meal best shared", he said.
"My guru Mr K Balachander taught me how to enjoy sharing the screen space and not to steal the show. Both the actors were admirers of mine, so it felt like a felicitation."
Vikram is in UAE cinemas from Friday.
Click through the gallery below to see Burj Khalifa over the years.
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
The specs
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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