Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani filmed the music video for 'Burj Khalifa' in the UAE. Instagram / Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani filmed the music video for 'Burj Khalifa' in the UAE. Instagram / Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani filmed the music video for 'Burj Khalifa' in the UAE. Instagram / Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani filmed the music video for 'Burj Khalifa' in the UAE. Instagram / Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani dance around Dubai in music video dedicated to Burj Khalifa


Emma Day
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One of the world's most recognisable buildings has inspired a new song from the soundtrack of an upcoming Bollywood film.

Burj Khalifa is the first song to be unveiled before the release of Laxmmi Bomb, a comedy-horror starring Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani.

For the track's music video, the pair ventured to Dubai to film among some of the city's most famous landmarks.

Kumar and Advani dance in Dubai Marina, on the desert sands, on the city's roads and, naturally, in front of the Burj Khalifa for the video, which was released on October 18 and has already been viewed more than 40 million times.

"We just dropped the biggest dance track of the year," said Kumar as he shared the clip on his social media pages. "Get ready to get grooving."

The upbeat number references the world's tallest tower, using it to describe the size of the gift Kumar wants to give Advani.

"I feel like getting you the Burj Khalifa," the lyrics say, along with choruses of "habibi". "Boy, get me Burj Khalifa," replies Advani.

Traditional Emirati dancers and the Dubai Fountain can also be spied in the accompanying video, which was filmed in the emirate in January.

Advani revealed shooting in the UAE provided some of the film's most memorable moments, though the desert landscape did present some issues.

"Shooting for Burj Khalifa was amongst the most enjoyable schedules of the film," the actress told Asian News International.

"Along with the fancy outfits came fancier locations. If we thought wearing chiffon sarees in the snow was difficult, here comes dancing with bare feet on the burning desert sands in the scorching sun."

The track, which was composed by Shashi Suman and DJ Khushi, features in the upcoming Laxmmi Bomb, which will be released on Indian streaming service Disney+Hotstar on Monday, November 9.

It is a remake of 2011 Tamil film Muni 2: Kanchana and marks the Hindi directorial debut of Raghava Lawrence.

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.”

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Customers only need a valid Emirates ID and a working UAE mobile number to register for eWallet account.

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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers