It’s that time of the year when the who’s who of tinsel town gear up to ring out the old and ring in the new. This time, Dubai seems to be the hottest destination for most of our big stars. And incidentally, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, who have long ceased to be friends, are in the Gulf city at around the same time.
Salman’s family — parents Salim and Salma, Helen aunty, brothers Arbaaz and Sohail, their wives Malaika Arora and Seema, children Arhaan and Nirvaan, sisters Arpita and Alvira, brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri — flew off to Dubai on Sunday morning to celebrate the actor’s 45th birthday. The family is believed to be staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Dubai, where they will be joined by buddies Sajid and Wardha Nadiadwala, David and Laali Dhawan. However, the actor will have to cut short his holiday to shoot for Bigg Boss on December 31. It is learnt that he will head to his farmhouse after the shoot.
Shah Rukh Khan, on the other hand, who celebrated at his bungalow Mannat last year, is said to be hosting a bash at his palatial villa at The Palm Jumeirah, along with his wife Gauri and children, Aryan and Suhana. Best friends Karan Johar, Hrithik and Sussanne Roshan along with their kids, Hrehaan and Hridaan, also flew out last evening. Other close friends Kajal Anand and Chunky and Bhavna Pandey, too, are said to be joining them at the New Year party.
Zayed Khan and his wife Maleika, too, are flying to Dubai in a couple of days, and are expected to party with SRK and company. If the starry presence in the Emirate is any indication, it seems to have nudged out Goa, the favourite spot with most B-town denizens until last year.
This year, only a handful of stars are visiting Goa. Akshay Kumar flew out with wife Twinkle and son Aarav to bring in 2011 at his bungalow there. Sharman Joshi has already flown there with family to celebrate the New Year in a traditional way and attend the midnight mass. Prateik, who’s looking forward to his big break in Dhobi Ghat, is headed there to party with his pals. Abhishek Kapoor, director of Rock On!!, will also be celebrating with his group of friends from outside the industry.
{{/usCountry}}This year, only a handful of stars are visiting Goa. Akshay Kumar flew out with wife Twinkle and son Aarav to bring in 2011 at his bungalow there. Sharman Joshi has already flown there with family to celebrate the New Year in a traditional way and attend the midnight mass. Prateik, who’s looking forward to his big break in Dhobi Ghat, is headed there to party with his pals. Abhishek Kapoor, director of Rock On!!, will also be celebrating with his group of friends from outside the industry.
{{/usCountry}}A good number of stars are however planning to stay put in Mumbai, instead of venturing out. Sanjay Dutt, who usually heads out of the country, is celebrating with his wife Maanyata at his sister Priya Dutt’s house. The actor’s twins, son Shahraan and daughter Iqra, are too small to travel and the proud papa wants to bring in their first New Year with them, before he travels to Hong Kong for a month-long schedule of his production, Rascals.
Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jessia, Nitin Mukesh, prefer to spend the day with their families at home. Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, who cancelled their Panchgani plans to complete sound mixing for the Hindi version of their film, Dhobi Ghat, will stay put in town as well.