Bollywood megastars Amitabh Bachchan, Abishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinita will perform an unforgettable concert in Dubai.Amitabh Bachchan, known to legions of fans as The Big B, is regarded by many as the world’s most famous actor and will be leading his family out for the superstar Unforgettable world tour, reports masala.com.

The Unforgettable concert will be held in Dubai in January 2009 as part of the second leg of the tour, which will be from December to February. It will put the stars on stage across Middle East, South East Asia and Australia.
The concert is further proof, if it were needed, of Dubai’s Bollywood love affair. Just last month Yash Raj Films, a prominent entertainment brand in India, announced its intention to build an entertainment theme park with Indian stars as its ambassadors.

Abishek Bachchan, the Big B’s son, and wife Aishwarya Rai (the former Miss World and Hollywood star) are known to have bought a villa at the exclusive Jumeirah Golf estate resort earlier this year.

Click here to visit masala.com and get details on this story and more Bollywood gossip.

Art - you can’t beat it, but, you can burn it, which is what Pablo Picasso, the father of post-modern paintings did to keep himself warm as a struggling artist. I bring this to your attention because many of the paintings that survived his own personal conflagration can be seen for the first time in the UAE in Abu Dhabi - a superb treat for the thousands of art lovers across the Emirates.

Picasso had his first exhibition at the tender age of 13 - albeit in the back room of an umbrella store - so during his full 90 plus years he managed an odd masterpiece or two. In fact a total of 186 works will be displayed at the Gallery One of Emirates Palace until September, many of which are said to display the connection that Spain has with the Arabic world, especially the south of the country.

Abu Dhabi is setting itself up as the art capital of the Middle East which means we should get more of these kinds of treats. It is a massive coup for the capital to have pulled this off - Abu Dhabi is the second city and the only Middle Eastern venue on a nine nation tour which kicked off in Madrid.

Personally, I am hoping a Saatchi tour comes next. Anyone who has seen one of Maurice Saatchi’s more challenging collections - with old favourites such as the Chapman Brothers, Damian Hirst, and Tracey Emin thrown in - would love to see how Picasso’s siblings thrice removed would go down in the region.

Sponsored by the Tourism and Development Investment Company (TDIC) and Mubadala Development Company, the exhibition runs between May 27-September 4. The exhibition is open 10am-10pm everyday with Tuesdays 10am-4pm reserved for women only.

There will be an informal, multi media evening called Artscape on the 17 June.

For more information you can call 02 6908206.

Dubai has long been seen as a desert, not just in terms of landscape but culturally too. But the sands are finally shifting and today few could deny that both popular and higher forms of culture are coming at the city from bottom up and top down.

A distinctly bottom up movement - from the people, for the people - is John Martin’s annual Art Dubai Fair, now in its second year. The fair follows on from the tried, tested and incredibly successful events bringing modern art to the people first deployed in major cities such as London and New York.

London’s Affordable Art Fair, held in Battersea Park, is now a twice yearly event, and brings paintings, sculpture, photography and original prints under one roof - not just to look at, but to buy. Everything within the massive event has to be sold between 300 dirhams and 21,000 dirhams, which means there really is something there for everyone.

Art Dubai may not have such democratic pretensions for its displays but it still offers its visitors the chance to spot and bag a pre-famous Banksy. In fact, now could be the time to buy with art from this region already attracting pretty heavyweight interest. This month Iranian Farhad Moshiri became the first Middle East artist to achieve an auction sale of over $1 million, selling a work titled ‘Eshgh’ (Love) at a Dubai-based auction.

The auction house, Bonhams, said its first sale in the region had achieved total sales of over $13 million - almost three times the amount expected, with 94% of the lots sold.

However, it’s not only local art that you will be able to get your hands on. Galleries are coming to Dubai from across the world, including one Australian entry. Sydney-based Galleries Direct will showcase the work of antipodean artists such as Maree Azzopardi, Jason Benjamin and Tim Maguire. It is also running a seminar on how to make money by investing in art…

So Art Dubai - a cultural event, but one that also will appeal to a more traditional Dubai pursuit - speculation. Now, however, along with buying and selling properties, we can buy and sell the fittings inside them. Who said art can’t be both enjoyable - and profitable?

On most nights a flabby Frenchman in a leotard walking around a stage on his hands would be considered something out of the ordinary.

But at the Krystal Dinner Show it is barely enough to raise an eyebrow. Continue reading … ‘Krystal Dinner Cabaret comes to Dubai’

It is a good time to feel lonely at the cinema this week.

Themes of separation, loss and learning to live with one’s lot in life run strong through the three big releases.

Whether it is the forced separation from one’s husband (as in Things We Lost In The Fire), parents (as in August Rush) or the entire human race (as in I Am Legend) there is plenty of soul-searching going on.

All three films look like they will speak directly to the heart in one way or another.

Probably heart-wrenchingly moving (as in Things We Lost In The Fire), heart-warmingly touching (as in August Rush) and heart-stoppingly exciting (as in I Am Legend) .

Having already seen the advanced UAE screening earlier this week, Time Out can recommend Will Smith’s I Am Legend.

One of the few films that manages to combine box-office appeal with art-house ethics it is a curious thing: A thought-provoking zombie movie.

Watch the trailers for all three films here. If you do go out to watch one of the movies join the debate on timeoutdubai.com and let us know what you think of the film.

Watch the trailer for Things We Lost In The Fire:

Watch the trailer for August Rush:

Watch the trailer for I Am Legend: