Entertainment
Anil Kapoor unveils hair clinic branch in Dubai
Early in the career of actor Anil Kapoor, the ageless wonder of Bollywood, he was playfully called ‘Baal Kalakaar’ in Hindi. Playing on the literal translation as a ‘hair actor’ while phonetically sounding as ‘young actor’, the inference was to his hair body, bushy moustache and all.
Since then he has come a long way of beating stereotypes and is still doing so better than anyone ever in his long, long cinematography career. Yet, on Sunday evening at the City Walk, as the grey skies turned black into the night, the actor played a role perfect for his skin while donning a full-white summer dress – that of a brand ambassador for a hair and skin clinic.
The promoters of India’s well-known franchise chain Assure have tried to weave their friendship with Kapoor into a professional one as the veteran actor, 66, promoted the store’s opening in Dubai amid some fanfare.
Anil Kapoor attended the launch ceremony of Assure Clinic where founder Dr Priyanka Pilani, left, will be offering skin treatments. Supplied
Founded in 2016 by Dr Abhishek and Dr Priyanka Pilani, Assure Clinic is a trusted brand in the hair and skin industry in India. It has mushroomed quickly into 14 centres. The next one and their first overseas franchise has opened at City Walk. Five centres are in Mumbai.
“I had referred a few friends to Abhishek and one thing has led to another. He is good and many in Bollywood are happy. We have built a friendly relationship and this visit has only taken the next step,” Kapoor said.
Kapoor is a regular to Dubai and recalled the days more than four decades back when he hadn’t become a star and had friends who came to work as middle-class employees. Kapoor and his wife celebrated their 39th marriage anniversary in Sharjah two weeks ago and he made another visit to attend the International Indian Film Academy Awards.
The brand ambassador for Assure Clinic extended his best wishes. The group has also announced its plans to expand its footprint through a network of centres in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region. The plans, starting with the grand opening in Dubai, is being put in place with the help of some local partners in Sathish Subbiah and Kailash Shivdasani of Fiducia Capital.
With an investment approval of up to $6 million spread over several tranches, Fiducia Capital will establish a network of six to eight centres offering hair restoration and skin services over a period of one to two years.
These centres will be spread across the GCC in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, among others.
There are also plans to launch specialised products in India and a mobile application for a wider reach.
“We would have a lot of patients from the GCC region, specially the UAE, come to our centres in India to operate on, hence Dubai was always our first and best option to launch Assure Clinics,” Dr Priyanka Pilani said.
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