Producers of the forthcoming film Dr Cabbie are not risking getting lost within a spate of screenings set for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Instead, they are launching a major publicity tour in the same city tomorrow – a week before the September 4-14 festival begins.
Even Salman Khan, the well-known Bollywood actor, is expected to appear in Toronto to promote the film. It marks the first international film project that his company, SKBH Productions, helped produce.
Dr Cabbie was reportedly set to premiere at TIFF but will now be released in Canada on September 19. It is also likely to be released in the UAE, although a date has not yet been announced.
The film features Vinay Virmani, a Toronto native who also worked as its creative producer and is best known for his portrayal of a minority hockey player battling discrimination in Breakaway.
In Dr Cabbie, Virmani plays Deepak, a doctor from India who moves to Toronto then struggles to earn a living. After taking a job as a taxi driver, Deepak transforms his cab into a mobile health clinic and becomes a local hero of sorts, particularly after he helps deliver a baby in the back of his taxi.
“The cliché baby-in-the-back-of-a-taxi happens more often than you think,” says Ron Kennell, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay along with Virmani and Manu Chopra. “All cab drivers are trained to do that.”
The scene was one of many that the film's trio of co-writers decided to keep in their story, which dates back to 2003 when Kennell started working on the screenplay alone. Back then, he toyed with stretching Dr Cabbie's story over a series, but then shelved the project while he wrote other screenplays.
"Dr Cabbie was the first that came off the shelf," says Kennell, who in 2012 met Virmani and the actor's father, Ajay, the producer behind Bollywood/Hollywood and Deepa Mehta's Water.
“When I finally met Ajay and Vinay, we were working on similar ends and different treatments,” Kennell adds. “We hit it off right away and found a good way of working. It wasn’t without bumps along the way… [but] we didn’t need a lot of writers, which was exciting for me on my first film.”
Certain characters from Kennell's version were ultimately cut, although comedy fans will probably enjoy the portrayal of Tony, who is played by The Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar.
Some plot lines also changed after Kennell began collaborating with Virmani and Chopra.
For example, in Kennell’s story Deepak was already married when he immigrated to Canada. The lead character expected he’d come to Toronto, where his wife was already working, and quickly find a job. However, he couldn’t secure medical residency in a local hospital.
“His shame was that much greater [because] they lived with his wife’s mother, which was embarrassing for her and her social circle that she had created in Toronto,” says Kennell. “[The mother] didn’t want others to know her daughter was married to a cab driver.”
In Virmani’s version, which ultimately made it to film, Deepak’s discovery of love and challenges with work, as well as family issues, are all explored – often with comedic undertones. His version, Kennell acknowledges, “did illuminate some of the family circumstances and made them much more plausible”.
The original story also failed to address the legal implications of a cab driver converting the back of his vehicle into a mini medical clinic. That’s where Chopra, a writer with First Take Entertainment, came in. “There were things I was unable to answer that Manu was able to and we were able to fill in the blanks,” says Kennell.
Even so, it was not always easy to concede certain changes.
“You don’t want to give your baby away, but you know that to have things made, you have to share,” says Kennell.
“Essentially I would write, come back and we’d compare notes on the treatment. We’d collaborate and [say] this is what’s going to happen.”
In some ways, Dr Cabbie is also an achievement of cross-cultural moviemaking between India and Canada, with industry professionals from both countries having a hand in its creation. And while some of the fantasy-like scenes that Bollywood viewers have grown accustomed to seeing play out on the big screen will certainly make an appearance, they will include a multicultural cast set in a city that is known for its diverse population.
The film’s theme, Kennell says, is one that can be universally understood. “It talks about the struggle of fitting into the world, what it means to fulfil your true calling and questions whether you should be good at everything,” he says.
Dr Cabbie opens in Canada on September 19
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
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Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
THE POPE'S ITINERARY
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Jawab Iteiqal
Director: Mohamed Sammy
Starring: Mohamed Ramadan, Ayad Nasaar, Mohamed Adel and Sabry Fawaz
2 stars
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
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.”
MO
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
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- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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