One-day event Araaish brings Suniel Shetty to Dubai

Araaish, a lifestyle exhibition to raise funds for NGOs Pride India and Save the Children India, will be opened by Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty on Saturday.

Suniel Shetty. Courtesy Araaish

The Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty will kick off the style season for Dubai fashionistas with a one-day fashion fundraiser at The Oberoi hotel on Saturday.
The designer lifestyle exhibition, titled Araaish, will raise funds for Planning Rural-Urban Integrated Development through Education (Pride) India and Save the Children India, which is headed by the actor's wife.
The organisations work towards alleviating poverty, promoting self-sustenance, addressing health and education issues and empowering women in the rural areas.
Now in its seventh year, the event will showcase some of India's well-known fashion brands, along with home decor, accessories, handbags and jewellery designers.
More than 30 designers, including Ritu Kumar, Vikram Phadnis, Shehla Khan, Seema Khan, Reynu Taandon and Dubai's C'est Moi accessories are participating in the exhibition, which is coming back to Dubai for the fifth time.
"Araaish supports the organisations my mother-in-law founded 25 years ago - at the same time I became an actor," says Shetty about the late activist Vipula Kadri.
"It is a travelling show where designers come together, and the money raised through sales and sponsorships are donated towards the development of these organisations."
The exhibition is held in Mumbai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Dubai every year, and welcomes about 25,000 shoppers. Shetty will be in Dubai for three days, coinciding with the premiere of his new film, the action drama Desi Kattey.
"Dubai has a huge population from the Indian subcontinent and this is a one-stop shop to gain access to pieces by designers from India, Pakistan and even local designers of the city," says the 53-year-old actor. "And in Dubai, we not only get support from the Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis, but the Emiratis come out in huge numbers as well."
Shetty believes in using his celebrity status to reinforce the message of the charities.
"Everybody understands that you need a celebrity backing or a known figure to push something they believe in," says the actor, who won a Filmfare award for Best Villain for the 2000 Hindi film Dhadkan. "Our support through the media makes a big difference."
Shetty will also be seen in the forthcoming films Shooter, Border 2 and Hera Pheri 3.
. Visit www.araaish.com for more information on the fashion event
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