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Recap on IIFA 2023 eve: when Salman Khan got emotional

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The prestigious International Indian Film Academy Awards are making a comeback to Abu Dhabi this month, bringing forth a vibrant celebration of Bollywood.

Scheduled to take place on May 26 and 27 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, the dazzling awards weekend nights will commence with IIFA Rocks—an enchanting evening dedicated to music and fashion. Preparations are also concurrently on, with stars arriving for some last-minute rehearsals. There will be live performances by Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandes, Nora Fatehi, and many other talented artists.

Salman Khan was in his elements as the chief patron of IIFA last year as well at the same venue. The event is being held for a rare, successive time with the Department of Tourism and Culture – Abu Dhabi and sponsors Miral extending their support.

Memories of a notable throwback moment from IIFA 2022 included actor Salman Khan sharing a heartfelt personal anecdote. He shared a time from his life when he encountered significant financial challenges, leaving a lasting impression on both the show and the hearts of the viewers.

The actor broke down narrating his whirlwind journey that catapulted him to super-stardom. The actor revealed that there was a period when he couldn’t even afford to buy a t-shirt. The actor was quoted as saying, “Earlier when I didn’t have money, at that time, I went to Suniel Shetty’s clothing shop. It was a very expensive one. I couldn’t afford anything more than a shirt or a pair of jeans. At that time, Suniel noticed that I had no money, so he gifted me a stone-wash shirt.

“He noticed that I had my eyes on a wallet,” as he walked towards Suneil’s son, Ahan Shetty, who was also attending the awards ceremony. “So he took me home and gave me that wallet,” he continued. Ahan stood up and hugged Salman, who was moved to tears by the memory.

The esteemed IIFA Awards will be graced by the charismatic hosting duo of Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan, who will infuse the event with their charm and wit. Additionally, the dynamic pairing of Farah Khan and Rajkummar Rao will be in charge of hosting the electrifying IIFA Rocks segment, adding their unique flair to the proceedings. There will also be a fashion show for the first time by Manish Malhotra, who will also be honoured with a special award.

Veterans honoured

This IIFA will have three special awards for notable or outstanding achievements in the history of Indian cinema. Kamal Haasan will be felicitated for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema’; the made-for-each-other couple – Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza – for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Regional Cinema’ and fashion designer Manish Malhotra will be feted for his ‘Outstanding Achievements’.

Kamal Haasan, 68, began his career as a child artist, at the age of six, in the 1960 Tamil film Kalathur Kannamma, bagging the President’s Gold Medal. He won the first of his four National Awards for his performance as a school teacher whose selfless devotion to a young woman suffering from retrograde amnesia leaves him heartbroken in the 1982 Tamil film, Moondram Pirai, which was remade three years later in Hindi as Sadma.

Over the years, he has distinguished himself as an actor, filmmaker, screenplay writer, playback singer and TV host, working in not just Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films, but also in the Hindi and Bengali industries. Recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, Kamal Haasan is one of Indian cinema’s living legends.

Journalist for 25 years with leading publications in India and UAE such as The National, Mumbai Mirror, DNA, Indian Express and former Sports Editor of eIndia.com. Now managing editor of Headline.ae, part of MEMc (https://www.memc.co)

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Mahzooz gets its first Emirati female millionaire

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UAE weekly draw Mahzooz celebrated its first Emirati female millionaire Sahar, as she took home the guaranteed raffle prize of Dh 1 million on Saturday as the 45th millionaire to do so.

The UAE’s favourite weekly draw with the biggest and most frequent payout, has given away more
than AED 415,000,000 in prize money to over 242,000 winners in a span of two years.

Sahar is the third Emirati millionaire through Mahzooz, with a total of Dh7.5 million in prize money given away to more than 8,000 Emirati winners.

Since being introduced to Mahzooz two years ago, Sahar has participated in the weekly draw almost
every weekend. She remembers the moment she found out that she had won with fondness. On
Saturday evening, Sahar received multiple calls from her friends to congratulatee her on the bonanza.

She initially thought it was an orchestrated joke and didn’t give the happy messages much thought.
She decided to check her Mahzooz account the next morning and before even finding out she
received a call from Mahzooz announcing the good news to her. Her brother was the first person she
told about her victory because he was the one who introduced her to Mahzooz.

Sahar has, in fact, got twice lucky with Mahzooz this year, having won the third prize in January. Supplied photo

“While money does not buy happiness, I believe it can bring comfort and security to the life of a
person. This is what the prize is going to do for my family,” an elated Sahar said.

“This is not the first time I have won with Mahzooz. In fact, the year started off on a good note for
me, as I have won the third prize in January, having scored three out of 5 numbers. But this time, the
prize is incomparable, and I will use good judgement to decide how to invest this money” Sahar
continued.

The same draw also saw 888 participants take home Dh 1,417,000 in prize money split between the
second and third prizes of the grand draw and the guaranteed raffle prize.

For only AED 35, participants can purchase a bottle of Mahzooz water, and enter the weekly draw
every Saturday consisting of the grand draw, for a chance to win the new top prize of Dh20 million and the new weekly raffle draw for one guaranteed winner irrespective of the numbers matching.

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Dubai group rekindles theatre magic with The Addams Family musical

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A new and upcoming group of theatre enthusiasts is keeping the arts and culture scene of Dubai alive and kicking by bringing their fifth production. Musical Theatre Dubai (MTDXB) will stage The Addams Family musical in the first weekend of June at the Sunmarke School in Jumeirah Village Triangle.

The show brings forth the familiar family-friendly musical comedy that tells the tale of Wednesday Addams, a young lady who has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet young man from a respectable family. She brings her new friend and his family home for dinner and to meet her ‘not-so-regular’ parents, Gomez and Morticia, her brother Pugsley, and their extended family of Uncle Fester, Grandma Addams and their loyal butler, Lurch. The comical feast embraces the wackiness in every family with a celebration of the weird, the funny and the macabre.

MTDXB was formed after the pandemic, thanks to the efforts of James and Behtanie Mitchinson, and Sarah Jordan, British expats who realised that the city’s cultural landscape lacked musical theatres. They set about forming a group of like-minded individuals whose objective was to give talented performers a stage to showcase their art. It started with a post on Facebook that attracted a lot of attention and soon it became an actual community.

The eclectic group, comprising professionals in various fields, met, discussed on how to take their passions forward and it wasn’t long before they were ready with their first production. The group has thus far put up four shows – A Night at the Musical, Everybody’s Talking about MTDXB, Return to the Musicals with MTDXB and A Christmas Concert.

The Addams Family musical is their largest and most ambitious one bringing together a huge cast of 50, a live 12 piece band and a stunning set, put up at the Shyam Mankani auditorium hall of Sunmarke, one of the leading British Curriculum schools in Dubai.

The MTDXB show sticks to the spirit of the story and will feature a number of showstopper songs, and elaborate dance routines. The group hopes to work on more shows and create a space for creative individuals in the city to come together and boost the musical theatre space.

Showtimes:

• Thursday 1 June at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm)
• Friday 2 June at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm)
• Saturday 3 June at 2:30pm (doors open at 2pm)
• Saturday 3 June at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm)

Venue: Sunmarke School, Jumeirah Village Triangle

Prices: AED 150 for a single ticket, or AED 550 for 4 tickets (saving AED 50) with groups of 10 tickets at AED 1,350 (saving AED 150) and only from ticketslover.ae

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Abu Dhabi does star turn again with IIFA 2023

Another sizzling weekend at Yas Island cements city’s reputation as amazing hosts

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Abu Dhabi cemented its reputation as great hosts as the 23rd IIFA) Awards came to an end at the Etihad Arena, where the event was held for a second successive time after drawing praise from the creme de la creme of Bollywood.

The International Indian Film Academy Awards is a celebration of the key achievements from the tinsel town in the year gone by, but attempts are made to take the event to different corners of the world even though the popular industry does not have to. IIFA 2022 was a runaway success because of the excellent hosting arrangements by the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi and the reputation was enhanced over the weekend.

Sara Ali Khan looked ravishing in red. Mohammed Asif

The Sobha Realty and NEXA-sponsored IIFA saw star performances, a rain of celebrity glitterati, some veteran names honoured and achievements recognised over two nights of fun and glamour. Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences, joined in as the other key, local collaborator.

The first evening focuses on music and fashion traditionally under the banner of IIFA Rocks. Cue exciting performances by Amit Trivedi, Badshah, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhbir Singh, Palak Muchhal & Iulia Vantur, the touted girlfriend of Salman Khan, the show’s superstar representative icon for Bollywood. The evening programme was presented by Farah Khan and Rajkummar Rao.

The musical spectacular began with a dance performance by Palak Muchhal, who was followed by Farah Khan, who also danced her way on to the stage. Rao entered while playing the song Main Hoon Na, and the two recreated a scene from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, in which they both greeted the crowd and engaged in witty conversation about friendship.

Chauhan, Badshah, Jacqueline Fernandez, Rakul Preet Singh and Nora Fatehi gave enthralling performances later in the evening.

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Awards were given out through the glitzy IIFA statuette across various categories, including in the technical aspects. One of the key highlights of IIFA Rocks was a special collection showcased by Bollywood’s favourite designer Manish Malhotra. The collection reflected ‘old world charm meets the new world’ that was breakthrough and imaginative and had Salman Khan and Nora Fatehi as the showstoppers for the evening.

And the award goes to:

  • Best Picture Category | Drishyam 2
  • Best Direction Category| R Madhavan for Rocketry: The Nambi Effect
  • Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female) | Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi
  • Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male) | Hrithik Roshan for Vikram Vedha
  • Performance In A Supporting Role (Female) | Mouni Roy for Brahmastra: Part 1 – Shiva
  • Performance In A Supporting Role (Male) | Anil Kapoor for Jug Jugg Jeeyo
  • Music Direction | Pritam for Brahmastra: Part 1 – Shiva
  • Playback Singer (Female) | Shreya Ghoshal for the song Rasiya from Brahmastra: Part 1 – Shiva
  • Playback Singer (Male) | Arijit Singh for the song Kesariya from Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva
  • Best Story (Original) | Parveez Sheikh and Jasmeet Reen for the film Darlings
  • Best Story (Adapted) | Aamil Keeyan Khan and Abhishek Pathak for Drishyam 2
  • Lyrics | Amitabh Bhattacharya for the song Kesariya from Brahmastra: Part 1 – Shiva
  • Best Debut – Female, Khushali Kumar for Dhoka Around the Corner
  • Best Debut – Male, Shantanu Maheshwari for Gangubai Kathiawadi and Babil Khan for Qala

 

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