Shruti Haasan. Razan Alzayani / The National
Shruti Haasan. Razan Alzayani / The National

Shruti Haasan takes best debut award at South Filmfare



The Tamil drama Aadukalam was the big winner at the 59th South Filmfare Awards, held on Saturday in Chennai. The film, about cockfighting in India, picked up five awards: best film, best director for Vetri Maaran, best actor for Dhanush, best cinematography and best musical direction. The 26-year-old actress Shruti Haasan won the best debut award for her role in the action film Gabbar Singh and the trophy was presented to her by her father, the actor Kamal Haasan. The romantic drama Engeyum Eppothum won two awards for its leading ladies: the best actress for Anjali and best supporting actress for Ananya.

Dubai to launch film innovation summit

Dubai is to host the world's first Cinematic Innovation Summit, thanks to a collaboration between the Dubai International Film Festival, the Centre for New Cinema and the event producer Naseba. The summit, due to take place on December 8 and 9, will discuss how technological advancements have revolutionised the industry, from production to distribution to viewing, with 200 names specialising in film, games and technology set to attend. More details are to be announced, but there are already plans to make it an annual event. "In three to five years, I want this summit to be a place you go to find out what is coming in cinema in the future," said DIFF's chairman Abdulhamid Juma. * Alex Ritman

Richa Chadda: Gangs was a real career boost

The actress Richa Chadda says her appearance in Anurag Kashyap's acclaimed Gangs of Wasseypur has brought her countless new offers. "My phone has not stopped ringing. It has changed my life and I'm very happy," she said. "Some of the big names in the industry like Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj and Dibakar Banerjee have made efforts to call me. I'm overwhelmed." Chadda, 26, said she has already signed on to some of them. "I have a film with Mira Nair. Then I'm also doing a film called Tamanchey. It's nearly completed. I have also signed for a very big film, but I can't talk about it. All I can say is it's with one of the biggest directors in the country." * IANS

Swiss company launches Gulf film grant

The Swiss watch company IWC Schaffhausen is extending its partnership with the Dubai International Film Festival by launching a US$100,000 (Dh367,000) fund for directors from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. To be eligible for the first IWC Filmmaker Award, the feature-length fiction projects must be in the development stage. Directors must be citizens of a Gulf nation; producers can be of any nationality. The filmmaking team must submit a comprehensive dossier including full treatment, budget outlines and work samples. Entries will be accepted until August 31 at www.dubaifilmfest.com. Three submissions will be shortlisted by an independent jury in October, and a winner named on December 10, during the ninth DIFF.

Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
  •  1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior 
  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
  •  2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
  •  Dh145 is the price of a ticket

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
THE BIO

Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13 

Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife 

What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents. 

Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID

1st row 
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

2nd row 
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

3rd row 
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)

4th row 
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)

5th row 
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)

6th row 
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)

7th row 
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

8th row 
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)

9th row 
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)

10th row 
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)

Company%20profile%20
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The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

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.”