Shamitabh is only the second Hindi-language film for Dhanush. The soft-spoken 31-year-old, one of Southern India's biggest celebrities, made his Bollywood debut in 2013 with the romantic tragedy Raanjhanaa, starring opposite Sonam Kapoor. The film did well and Dhanush, despite not being fluent in Hindi, was an instant hit with audiences across India.
"It was hard going," says the actor about working on his Hindi language skills. "I had to slog hard and memorise all my dialogues during Raanjhanaa, but with Shamitabh it was much easier, I didn't have so much trouble."
What was more challenging this time around, he says, was sharing screen space with the formidable Amitabh Bachchan. In the film, Dhanush plays an ambitious man who gets famous after taking on someone else’s voice.
“See, the whole film is about Mr Bachchan’s voice,” says Dhanush. “I think there is no one else in India whose voice is so recognisable — so there was no question of imitating it, because I would have failed miserably. So I stuck to acting, getting into my character and portraying it as honestly as possible, and dubbing my lines correctly. I think it has worked out well, after all that effort, but it is for the audiences to see it now.”
ciyer@thenational.ae
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
The%20specs%20
You might also like
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack