DUBAI // A man hailed as India's first YouTube star has spent the past week in Dubai filming an extended scene for a semi-autobiographical feature film.
Wilbur Sargunaraj, whose online hits include Love Marriage and Chicken 65, spent three days filming a sequence for his comedy-musical in the emirate.
The film is called Simple Superstar and has been made on a shoestring budget.
Shooting took place at sites including the desert village of Lehbab to an apartment in the Burj Khalifa. He also spent an afternoon singing to labourers in Al Quoz.
"Basically the premise is, what is the meaning of life or the definition of success," he said.
"For so many people, especially in South Asian countries, for them it might be coming to a fine country like Dubai [sic]."
Sargunaraj, who is from rural Madurai in Tamil Nadu, has also made dozens of how-to videos including one in which he demonstrates how to use an "eastern latrine". A third of the 1 million viewers of the video are UAE residents.
Sargunaraj distanced himself from the video last year, saying he was "not just a random person sitting on a toilet, there is some substance to this".
Laetitia de Pelichy found Sargunaraj on YouTube and became friends with him on Facebook. She took three days off work to help with the Dubai leg of the filming by driving him and his crew to different locations.
Ms de Pelichy said he lived up to his eccentric YouTube persona.
"He's hilarious; I loved him," she said. "I think he's like a Mr Bean. He's very innocent and a little naive. He sees things in a very simple, honest way and wants people to connect on that level.
"I think this movie's going to be wonderful. I can't wait."
The film was made largely through contributions from fans.
Some have cashed in their frequent-flyer miles to provide transport for the filming crew, while others have lent Sargunaraj their cars - including, in one instance, a Rolls-Royce - to use in the filming. Actors in the film are also volunteers.
He has a huge grassroots fan base he has gathered under a "Wilbur World Wide" project to improve people's "cultural intelligence".
"Everyone is giving, this whole film is a big community project," Sargunaraj said. "We don't have a budget, we're making it with whatever we get.
"Having people like that believing in you when no one else seems to know, it's really wonderful."
Sargunaraj flew to Chennai on Wednesday night to begin the next stage of filming. Post-production will take place in the late summer and the film will probably be ready by October.
Sargunaraj said he hoped the film would be shown at a film festival in the UAE next year.
The film, a road trip, will be a spin on the traditional Bollywood musical with his songs spread through the story.
In one scene he appears as a superhero, taking on bullies in the street with martial arts moves, while in another he consoles friends who have been drafted in by their parents to an arranged marriage.
Sargunaraj said that in the movie he wanted to live up to his motto of "making the common extraordinary".
"No matter whether you live in the Burj Khalifa or you are a labourer, we are all human, and this film is a celebration of humanity," he said.
mcroucher@thenational.ae
Scores
Rajasthan Royals 160-8 (20 ov)
Kolkata Knight Riders 163-3 (18.5 ov)
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
