Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan shot his latest film in Dubai for three weeks. Marcus Brandt / AFP
Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan shot his latest film in Dubai for three weeks. Marcus Brandt / AFP

Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year brings an estimated $5m to Dubai



The shooting of a Shah Rukh Khan film has brought an estimated US$5 million to the UAE, according to the Dubai TV and Film Commission.

Happy New Year, which is to be released next year, took three weeks to shoot and is the first full-length feature to be filmed almost entirely in the Emirates.

The film commission expects more interest from Bollywood now with two more films already confirmed. The commission did not provide details of the additional films.

The commission said that its $5m estimate for Happy New Year will be followed by a more precise figure this month or next. Benefits to the emirate’s economy would have included spending on hotel rooms, flights and equipment and space rentals.

The commission worked with Khan’s production company, Red Chillies Entertainment, for about a year to organise the shoot.

Previously, Bollywood films that had chosen Dubai as a location had shot only one or two scenes in the city.

“This is not just a dance scene, but about 80-90 per cent of the whole film that was shot in Dubai,” said Jamal Al Sharif, the chairman of the film commission. “We had to learn the logistics. Normally we’ve only dealt with a maximum of 40 people who come to do a dance scene in two to five days.”

The Red Chillies team was given many incentives from Dubai International Airport, Emirates Airline and immigration authorities. The entire Happy New Year crew booked 180 rooms at the Atlantis hotel on the Palm for 25 days.

“This will impact culturally on what they’re doing. They’re creating jobs and we’re hoping that further Bollywood films will support [our] GDP. We are expecting the next door to open for Bollywood to be in Dubai and the Middle East,” Mr Al Sharif said.

Rebates and incentives are one of the key areas of focus for the film commission as it works to attract productions to the emirate, not just from Bollywood, but from all over the world.

“We are putting together plans for the years to come to provide soft and hard incentives and rebates. Dubai is a tax-free destination with reliable infrastructure and we have to take advantage of that. For instance, Dubai Studio City is home to three state of the art sound stages, all of which are equipped with world class technology and occupy 75,000 square feet in total. These will benefit the filmmakers,” Mr Al Sharif said.

Speaking last month while in Dubai, Khan praised the emirate as a place to make movies. “Dubai needs to let the world know it has the infrastructure. It is comparable to any place in the world. It is high time a lot of Indian films, not just Bollywood, should be encouraged to come here and this will be a stepping stone to showcase the beauty of Dubai and how wonderful and easy it is to shoot [here],” he said.

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The Year Earth Changed

Directed by:Tom Beard

Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough

Stars: 4

Results

Stage 7:

1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

MATCH INFO

Day 1 at Mount Maunganui

England 241-4

Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28

New Zealand 

Yet to bat

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

Film: In Syria
Dir: Philippe Van Leeuw
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Bo Abboud, Mohsen Abbas and Juliette Navis
Verdict: Four stars

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

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

Rating: 2.5/5

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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline

Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.

When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.

Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.

Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.

“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.

Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.

“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.

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  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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FIXTURES (all times UAE)

Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)

Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)

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THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

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