Tom Cruise, Shah Rukh Khan, Kichcha Sudeepa: All the stars spotted in Dubai, Abu Dhabi

Hollywood star Tom Cruise, along with his film crew and director of ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ or ‘MI7’, have been spotted in Abu Dhabi this week. While Cruise’s trip has been hush-hush, there have been sightings of the actor in the UAE capital, with the director of the film, Christopher McQuarrie, also posting a series of images from what appears to be Abu Dhabi’s Rub Al Khali or The Empty Quarter, along with the city skyline shrouded in fog.

McQuarrie posted a series of images on his official Instagram account, starting a week ago. Aside from the Abu Dhabi skyline, he posted an image of a sunset over the desert sands, along with black and white images of masked riders atop horses and camels.

Another image posted by the famed Hollywood director shows a half-submerged depilated building in the desert.

A final image posted by McQuarrie shows a hooded, masked person in the desert, which people on social media are speculating is Cruise himself, while others believe it could be Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, who starred as Ilsa Faust, a former MI6 agent, in ‘Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation’.

Ferguson, who is reprising her role in the new instalment, also posted images of the Abu Dhabi desert, along with a picture of her lounging by a hotel pool.

Meanwhile, Dubai has seen its own bevy of stars flitting through the streets. On Friday and Saturday (January 29 and 30) Downtown Dubai and Business Bay witnessed road closures with people posting videos of a film shoot that was underway. While there has been no confirmation as yet from the makers, including production house Yash Raj Films, it is being speculated that Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming ‘Pathan’ was being shot in Dubai.

Earlier, an image of Khan was posted on social media by Emirati entrepreneur and influencer Anas Bukhash who hosts a YouTube talk show called #ABtalks. However, it was unclear whether Khan was there at the action shoot in Dubai on the day considering he was also spotted at Mumbai airport with his daughter Suhana Khan.

It is also being speculated that he will return to the city to film portions along with his co-stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham.

While fans are desperate to catch a sight of Cruise and Khan in the UAE, another celebrity has also been spotted in Dubai, with American rapper-actor Will Smith seen outside Burj Khalifa along with wife Jada Pinkett Smith. According to eye witness accounts, the actor was seen entering the Armani hotel. While there is no confirmation of the same, Smith is a regular in the UAE, having posted several images of his UAE adventures on his social media.

Also currently in Dubai is South Indian and Bollywood actor Kichcha Sudeepa who will unveil a 180-second teaser to his much-anticipated film ‘Vikrant Rona’ at the Burj Khalifa on January 31. The date is also when the Kannada star completes 25 years in the film industry. ‘Vikrant Rona’ is one of the few big-budget films in South India that began filming during the pandemic.

“Celebrating my 25 years in films comes as an added happiness along with ‘Vikrant Rona’ title logo launch and a sneak peek happening on Burj Khalifa. Congratulations to the entire team once again for this huge moment [sic],” said Sudeepa in a statement. Directed Anup Bhandari, ‘Vikrant Rona’ will be releasing in five languages including Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. Incidentally, ahead of the launch, Sudeep was spotted visiting Dubai’s hot new restaurant, CZN Burak in Downtown Dubai.

Popular Telugu star Mahesh Babu is also shooing for his upcoming film ‘Sarkaru Vaari Paata’ in the UAE. The action-thriller is directed by Parasuram and also stars Keerthy Suresh. Babu is joined by his wife, former actress Namrata Shirodkar.

Incidentally, Shirodkar’s sister Shilpa Shirodkar is one of the first Bollywood stars to get her COVID-19 vaccine in Dubai. She posted on her social media on January 28 that she had received her second dose of the vaccine as well.

Bollywood hopeful and star kid Shanaya Kapoor was also spotted around Dubai earlier this month, with her Instagram timeline, which recently went public, peppered with shots and videos of her at The Palm Jumeirah and JBR. The daughter of Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor is also looking forward to a Bollywood launch.

News reports are also claiming that Bollywood actor Salman Khan, along with Katrina Kaif, will be headed to the emirate in March to shoot for the third instalment of the ‘Tiger’ franchise. ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ are the first and second instalments in the franchise, which were directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The latter project was filmed extensively in the Abu Dhabi desert.