Bollywood power couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who tied the knot in 2018, have created a social media frenzy by purchasing a $16 million mansion in Mumbai — one of India’s most expensive residential sales to date.
The sea-facing apartment, which sprawls across the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th floors of a residential tower, is fitted out with Italian marble, exotic plants and bespoke furniture.
Thanks to their dream abode, Singh, 37, and Padukone, 36, will be neighbours to two other Bollywood stars — Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. Like Singh and Padukone, many Bollywood celebrities are proud owners of lavish homes that mere mortals can only dream of.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, whose fame straddles Hollywood and Bollywood, owns a slew of spiffy homes. Her latest pad, jointly owned with her husband, singer Nick Jonas, is in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and reportedly cost a whopping $20 million.
Chopra Jonas, 40, recently shared photos of her and her family performing Diwali rituals inside the new home with her husband and their nine-month-old baby girl Malti Marie Chopra Jonas joining in the festivities.
“We've built the home that we dreamt of, we built the home that I guess has space for everything that is in our lives. And I feel most at peace when I'm at home," Chopra Jonas recently said in an interview with Harper's Bazaar Arabia.
Here is a peek inside the homes of some of Bollywood's biggest stars:
The Bachchans
Headed by veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who turned 80 on October 11, the Bachchan family famously owns a slew of bungalows in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. Such is the popularity of these residences that fans flock outside them daily just to click selfies. Mumbai travel packages often include a mandatory stop outside the Bachchans’ homes, so fans can have bragging rights about having posed there.
The Bachchans — Amitabh’s wife Jaya, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai — also own a lavish condominium in Paris, where they holiday frequently. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek were there last month after the actress walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week.
The couple also co-own a home in Sanctuary Falls, Dubai. The opulent complex, set on an 18-hole golf course, comes with chic Portuguese-style villas with pools and rooms overlooking waterfalls, manicured lawns or the golf course. The capacious complex also has several restaurants, a clubhouse and a tennis academy.
Shah Rukh Khan
Also known as "King Khan" for a successful career spanning more than three decades, Khan owns a sea-facing six-storey home known as Mannat — meaning prayer — in Mumbai. Currently priced at about $30 million, it is a famous tourist spot with fans thronging its gates to catch a glimpse of the superstar.
The house often finds its way into glossies for hosting fancy Bollywood parties. Khan’s friends are known to post selfies from the house’s all-white living room studded with eclectic bric-a-brac collected by his interior designer wife Gauri from all over the world.
Away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, the star, 57, owns another home in Alibaug, a beach town in Mumbai. Named Jannat, meaning "heaven", it is has a pool and a helipad, which the actor uses when he flies to his grand 20,000-square-foot home in a chopper.
Sonam Kapoor Ahuja
Daughter of veteran actor Anil Kapoor, Kapoor Ahuja's home in Notting Hill, London — which she shares with entrepreneur husband Anand Ahuja — often graces the pages of lifestyle magazines including Vogue and Architectural Digest, among others.
Peppered with bespoke Indian handcrafts, the pied a terre features exotic canework from North East India and wardrobes hand-carved by artisans. House proud Kapoor Ahuja often posts about her house on Instagram where she has 34 million followers. Her husband, who runs the fashion label Bhane and sneaker boutique VegNonVeg, often features in her photos.
Shilpa Shetty
The actor’s sea-facing house Kinara, which means "shore" in Hindi, is always in the news as the multi-faceted actor, who is also a businesswoman, leaves or enters it while fulfilling her various work commitments.
The house is valued at an estimated $13 million, making it one of India’s most expensive slices of real estate. Brimming with expensive art installations, and fronted by a manicured garden with exotic fruit trees, the home has a designated meditation space as well as a well-equipped gym.
Shetty, 47, often shows off her abode on Instagram where she has 27 million followers. Photos of her playing with her two children on her verdant lawns often go viral.
Aamir Khan
The veteran actor is known to spare no expense when it comes to acquiring grand homes. Apart from owning several across the country, he also possesses a capacious abode in Panchgani, a hill station south-east of Mumbai. Spread over more than 8,000 square metres, it cost about $1million in 2012-2013 and its current value is estimated at $5 million.
The home, fringed by contiguous hills and lush foliage, is where Khan spends a lot of quality time with his family and nine-year-old son Azad. Panchgani is famous for many scenic spots including Table Land, a huge volcanic plateau, Dhom Dam lake and Kamalgad Fort, used as a prison by the British in the early 19th century. It is said that Khan fell in love with the area when he was shooting for his blockbuster movie Raja Hindustani in the 1990s.
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At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
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.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
RACECARD%20
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
RESULTS
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SPECS
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Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
