It’s celebrity fireworks for Dubai’s many film fans as five top Bollywood celebrities, along with an award-winning television personality are making their way to the emirate for a Diwali spectacle. Rumoured lovebirds Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, along with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali will be promoting the upcoming ‘Ram Leela’ in the city, while the multi-talented actor-director-producer and musician, Farhan Akthar, will perform at an exclusive rock concert over the Diwali weekend. However, kicking off the celebrations is the super-talented ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil Sharma’ host, who will perform live at the ‘Diwali Ustav’ that is being hosted on November 1 at the Wonderland Theme and Waterpark.
The stand-up comedian, who is fresh from a double-win at the recently held Indian Television Academy award for his comedy show that borders on the lines of the hugely popular ‘Saturday Night Live’ in the US, will be bringing his brand of humour to Dubai this Diwali. Also joining him on stage will be Bollywood singer, Neeraj Shridhar, who is sure to croon some of his most popular hits from films such as ‘Krrish 3’, along with ‘Cocktail’, ‘Agent Vinod’ and more. Joining the celeb duo will be local DJs, Hani and Nodde. Tickets for the event are priced from Dh75 to Dh250, with children below 12 enter free with proof of ID.
Rock live with Farhan
The following evening, all roads will lead to the Hard Rock Café, Dubai Festival City, as the multi-talented Farhan Akhtar returns to the emirate once again for a live stage rock concert. This is a must see for those who missed the Bollywood powerhouse at his rock concert during the Quincy Jones backed ‘Dubai Music Week’ in September. Akhtar, who is a livewire on stage (his previous performance, he stopped midway to do push ups), is definitely going to pull off his ‘Rock On!’ songs, probably with a few from ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ thrown in. Lending support to his act will be local band, Rooh, along with DJs Kamya, Zubair and Buddha. Now for the bad news: the gold class tickets and the tables have all sold out, but the front pit Dh250 tickets are still available as per the latest update on its official Facebook page. Nab these before you lose them too.
Lovebirds Ranveer, Deepika return
Meanwhile, Diwali day will mark the return of co-stars and rumoured couple, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who will be accompanied this time with their director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the promotional visit of their film, ‘Ram Leela’. Details of their local visit are yet to emerge. The duo, which was caught cosying up at the local Cavalli Club last year, were captured once again last month with Singh flying down to spend time with his lady love at Shah Rukh Khan’s Eid bash at his home on The Palm after the shoot of ‘Happy New Year’. Could a similar night of hot spotting across Dubai’s many clubs ensue, could very well be on the cards post the media meet on November 3. However, with Bhansali being the strict taskmaster he is known for, coupled with Singh’s own bout with dengue earlier this month, the Dubai Diwali visit may just turn into an all work, no play affair. Despite the speculation, ‘Ram Leela’ is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, which releases on November 14 across UAE cinemas and is an Indian adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
