DUBAI // Not many films appeal to cricket lovers but the latest Bollywood movie to open in the Emirates may manage to lure fans off the crease and into the cinema aisles.
Patiala House, which premiered in the UAE yesterday, tells of one man's chance to play for the England cricket team and his father's insistence he give up the dream.
Yesterday, the stars of the film were in Dubai to talk about the strong themes of family, immigration and racism woven into the plot.
Patiala House centres on a conflict within an immigrant Indian family living in the Southall district of London. The son is selected to play cricket for the country but must first find the courage to stand up to his father, who is scarred by racist attacks against the minority Sikh community in the 1980s and has a strong bond with his homeland.
"I try to make my father understand that I'm not going to war," said the Indian actor Akshay Kumar.
"All my life my character has listened to his father but he is getting a chance to play for the country. Why shouldn't I play? It's about my connection to cricket."
Kumar, who has appeared in more than 90 movies and is best known for his action roles, plays Gattu, who gets a second chance to play for England years after he bows to his father's intimidation and goes into the family business. He runs a small shop that, like many in the UK, is owned by immigrants from India and Pakistan.
The movie's UAE launch aims to capture the attention of the large Asian expatriate community from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are passionate about the game.
It also contains original footage of protests by the Sikh community in Britain over racial attacks in the 1970s and 1980s and touches on the raw emotions that go along with not being accepted in a nation they have made their home.
The movie's cast features Hard Kaur, a pioneering Asian female rap artist from Britain, who plays Kumar's younger sister. A second-generation immigrant, Kaur said the subject of acceptance should appeal to the film's target audience.
"When I look at some of the footage it makes me very emotional," said Kaur, who mixes English, Punjabi and Hindi lyrics in her hip-hop songs. "It makes me connect and I know so many people in the UK and Canada who feel like me, so it's a great film for them to watch too."
Several Asian cricketers have worn England's colours, including such notables as Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Owais Shah and Ajmal Shahzad. Attitudes are changing, with cricketing audiences unconcerned about where cricketers hail from as long as they win, said Kaur.
However, reverse racism can also raise its head when British-Asian sportsmen tour the countries their parents were born in, as many face jibes from spectators.
Kumar recalled that when the left-arm spinner Monty Panesar toured India with the English team he was booed when he claimed the wicket of the Indian cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar.
"He [Monty] said the same thing, 'I'm just here playing a game'," recalled Kumar. "A lot of times in a game riots happen, in football too. People become so violent. They need to remember it's just a game, guys. Relax."
The veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who has more than 120 films to his credit over a span of nearly four decades, says cricket is one portion of the film that focuses on strong family ties.
Kapoor, who is now 58 but was a Bollywood heartthrob in the 1970s, plays Gattu's domineering father.
"It's about our culture and family bonds," Kapoor said about Patiala House.
"The movie shows the respect children have for their parents and how they don't revolt and stay quiet out of respect. It's also about aspirations and how people must fulfil their desires."
The one person who speaks her mind before the elder generation in the movie is Simran, the character played by the actress Anushka Sharma, who is in love with Gattu.
"Nobody seems to notice his [Gattu's] sadness, his frustration, but she does," said Sharma, 22, describing Simran as someone who pushes him to live out his fantasy.
"I'm the go-getter. I tell him it's OK Bauji [father] feels like this but you must follow your dream."
Kumar and Sharma took an active part in the film's opening ceremonies as they played cricket and danced with young adults from the Dubai-based Special Needs Children Development Centre as part of a string of promotional events.
"Now they feel they really know him," said Safia Bari, the film's director. "They have only seen him on the screen before. They are thrilled."
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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.”
In numbers
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- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
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Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Kolkata won by 31 runs
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Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
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Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
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THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
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Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
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For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Washmen Profile
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
