| SAMYABRATA RAY GOSWAMI | ||
Mumbai, Sept. 29: The man who weaves many dreams is now building castles in the air. Literally. Superstar, entertainment mogul and sports magnate, the business-savvy Shah Rukh Khan has now decided to turn realty developer with a beachfront property on a prime plot at Al Dana, an island created on reclaimed land at Ras Al Khaimah — one of the seven emirates — on the Oman border. The actor, who owns Red Chillies Entertainment and Kolkata Knight Riders — the Calcutta cricket team in the Indian Premier League — has joined hands with the United Arab Emirates-based TSA International Investments, which has built many plush properties in and around Dubai. SRK is an investor in the project, but no one was willing to let out the numbers. Neither Shah Rukh nor anyone from his office was available for comment.
The project, christened Shahrukh Khan Boulevard, has been totally conceived by the star and designed by Los Angeles architect Toni Ashai. The formal announcement is expected to be made at Cityscape, Dubai's real estate expo, early next month. The actor, who is not known to shun challenges, has his job cut out. The 1,700sqm Al Dana island is to be Ras Al Khaimah's answer to Dubai's artificially built super-posh Palm Islands where SRK already owns a palatial villa. Bollywood watchers see in this a parallel: the reigning badshah had taken on supreme deity Amitabh Bachchan by doing the Big B's Kaun Banega Crorepati and Don. "It is a new beachfront lifestyle destination in the UAE. TSA is developing the Phase I area of Al Dana. Shahrukh Khan Boulevard is situated on a prime plot there. It will be a gated area comprising beachfront high-rises and villas. To begin with, we will launch a G+10 apartment block consisting of studios and two-bedroom apartments," said Ali Abdur Rehman, in charge of project sales for TSA. TSA itself is going through a phase of re-branding and hopes to advertise widely in west and south Asia, Europe and the US once the exercise is over. "We have not yet launched the project formally. It will be showcased at Cityscape between October 6-9. On October 20, there will be a formal launch for which Shah Rukh Khan will be present," said Rehman. Shah Rukh will later go to Dubai for his stage show Temptation Reloaded. Those who wish to know more about the project have been invited to send "expressions of interest" accompanied by a refundable amount payable by cheque, though sales will begin only after the official launch on October 20. Bollywood sources said with competition from "Kinng" Akshay Kumar as the country's biggest box-office star, it is time for the badshah to reinvent himself in a new role. He currently endorses 34 brands, among the highest for any actor anywhere in the world. Red Chillies, which is a production house, has a VFX studio and also makes animation films, paid Rs 700 million in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders and made a profit of Rs 170 million. His last film, Om Shanti Om, also produced by him, has already collected over Rs 1.6 billion. SRK also owns a 10 per cent stake in the E 24 channel promoted by Bag Films owing to his proximity to the owners, Rajeev Shukla and Anurradha Prasad. The actor was always keen on entering real estate. Apart from the Al Dana project, he has also shown interest in being a part of the Delhi municipal corporation's Rs 500-crore project Advertisement Oasis. Dreamz Unlimited, another venture owned by SRK which he had started with friends Juhi Chawla and Aziz Mirza, had sent a proposal to the civic body earlier this year for building studios to set up an advertisement hub. source :http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080930/jsp/nation/story_9907512.jsp |
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