- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 05:15 06:32 12:06 15:10 17:35 18:51
Bollywood actor Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha shooting for 'Dabangg' in Dubai. (SUPPLIED)
Salman Khan thunders down a highway atop a Harley Davidson, with a chiffon-clad Sonakshi Sinha clutching at him coyly, while multitasking a lip-sync to the soundtrack of ‘Dabangg 2’s’ latest, ‘Saanson se’.
Five years ago, such an obvious romantic interlude would find itself embedded in the lush locales of the Swiss Alps, yet Khan’s romance finds a replacement in the Al Hajjar Mountains of Dubai.
A few scenes later and the duo have now hopped from a playful tease at the Souk Al Bahaar’s Shakespeare and Company restaurant to make a splash in the private pool villa of Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa.
It is no secret that Dubai is a favourite with Khan, who earlier this month told Emirates 24|7 that “if I wasn’t living in Mumbai for a living, then this is where I would move.”
However, the lure of the emirate and its lush, ever-changing vista is not limited to Khan or Sinha alone, who, incidentally, had also filmed a portion of the earlier ‘Dabangg’ in the deserts of Hatta and aboard Dubai Metro in 2008.
(Twitter)
The Akshay Kumar-starrer, ‘Khiladi 786’, which is currently playing in UAE cinemas, also had a special romantic number filmed on a highway in the Northern Emirates, with the actor wooing co-star Asin on a ‘Long Drive’.
Earlier, Dubai Studio City Executive Director Jamal Al Sharif told Emirates 24|7 that the emirate’s range of benefits was a top draw with filmmakers.
“Dubai offers a range of benefits for prospective partners including being a safe destination, logistical advantages and a 100 per cent tax free environment,” he said. “The enhanced ease of operation that our Location Approval Services (LAS) provides has proved popular among the industry.”
(Twitter)
According to statistics released by Dubai Studio City earlier, on average they receive 100 shooting applications per month, with the organisation recording an eight per cent rise from 2011.
With celebs flocking to Dubai on such a regular basis, we determine the top five locales around the emirate that could be captured (if not already) on camera, complete with a chiffon-clad Hindi film heroine billowing in the breeze.
(Twitter)
The two most recent film trailers have beautifully captures the glistening red, pristine sand of the Hatta desert.
(Movie still)
While ‘Dabangg’ even saw Khan clutching an Arabian falcon, Kumar’s latest sees him stick to the conventional lazing in the soft sand, gazing into the distance with his lady love resting beside him.
A hot favourite, this locale, other films that have been shot here include Shahid Kapoor-Kareena Kapoor starrer ’36 Chinatown’ and ‘Race’.
Note the climax scene in ‘Race’ and you will recognise the winding roads of the Jebel Hafeet Mountain in Al Ain where Akshay Khanna and Katrina Kaif are barrelling up the steep incline, with Saif Ali Khan burning rubber in their wake.
The gorgeous vista from the top is a perfect shot for a sunset romance for a Bollywood lead pair.
Directors, are you listening?
Just because Tom Cruise swung from the top spire of the world’s tallest building doesn’t mean that Bollywood stunt men can’t follow in their steps. Especially since Indian cinema has long had a history of ‘inspiration’ from Western counterparts.
Don’t be surprised that such a stunt winds its way into ‘Dhoom 3’.
Aamir Khan, who plays the baddie in the franchise, has a history of achieving the impossible on big screen.
When they came last time, Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha brought the Dubai Metro to a standstill during the filming of ‘Chori Kiya Re Jiya’ from ‘Dabangg’ back in 2008.
The plush metro stations and the state of the art trains are simply crying out for a thrilling action sequence to be filmed, complete with a fictitious panic scenario for our weepy chiffon-clad heroine, a la ‘24’.
Old is gold they say, and albeit the hotel has been around for a while, there is still a charm to this iconic property that once hosted the film shoot of the best forgotten film ‘Boom’, starring the legendary Amitabh Bachchan and the still undiscovered Katrina Kaif.
And while Kaif was clad in a bikini in that film, we expect a more tasteful romantic number to be crooned in the hotel’s underwater restaurant perhaps.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.