Dubai Parks and Resorts: Park & ride

Dizzying aerial swoops with Krrish, digital puzzle busting with Ra.One, shooting Gabbar baddies and playing cricket with Aamir — all these innovative game rides in the world’s first-ever Bollywood-themed park makes MEENAKSHI RAO wonder why Hindi cinema has got its best-ever showcase in Dubai’s $3.5 billion facility and not in India

Having the first Bollywood themed park in the world 2,475 km away from India and not in the mother country of Hindi cinema is definitely a matter to frown upon but what one great Dane has done to shape up the thrilling cinema ride amid the sand dunes of Dubai is no less amazing.

Meet Thomas Jellum, 45-year-old theme park specialist all the way from Denmark, holder of the BonBon Land Park in his mother country but now the General Manager of the splashy, innovative and completely engaging Bollywood Boulevard at the Dubai Parks and Resorts, the newest venture in the desert to dig into the ambitious mission of Emiratisation.

More about him later but Aamir Khan wanted to premiere his now blockbuster biopic drama Dangal not in the usual NRI pockets of America or England, but in Dubai for a change. Not because it was shot in the Emirates or had any connection whatsoever with that part of the world, but because he had found a new locale which would be unprecedented, grand and apt for his film on India’s First Family of wrestling, Mahavir Phogat and his two dhaakad daughters Geeta and Babita.

That’s an event which unfortunately could not materialise much to the chagrin of the Khan and Jellum, due to logistics and hawker put-downs which took more time than required. But Aamir Khan’s virtual presence at the proposed venue, talking away to you as Bhuvan and other characters from a towering screen at the $3.5 billion Dubai Parks and Resorts, was larger than life when the facility officially opened mid-December last year with guided fireworks, Grammy Award singing, stunning sky shows and a global audience to applaud Dubai’s newest uber cool facility.

“Aamir was scheduled to shoot the live introduction to his film rides within a span of three hours. However, the perfectionist that he is, he took full three days to understand and execute this unique project which introduces the guests to the Lagaan ride before they go in for the thrill,” says Jullen, who keeps walking around the sprawling Bollywood section to check out if there are any improvements that can be done.

A large part, or one could safely say, the dominating part of this 30.6 million square feet theme park on a stretch equidistance from the Abu Dhabi and Dubai international airports, belongs of Bollywood. Much as the Park’s CEO Raed Kajoor Al Nuaimi would deny it, much as the management would stress that it is as much Bollywood as it is Motiongat e Hollywood and Legoland (the other two sections that power the park for now), the pomp and show, the pulse, the rhythm, the colour splash, the impromptu song and dance popping up from train-tops to chai stalls to the steps of the imposing Taj Mahal-lookalike Rangmahal and, of course, the carefully crafted rides around the filmdom cockily suggest otherwise.

The Park, with highly priced tickets, has 100 rides in total but the ones in Bollywood are the most thrilling. The boom-boom Sholay and the digitally ticking Ra.One are showstopper rides but you must save the best for the last and that’s undisputedly the simulated Krrish aerial spin over the most loved monuments of India.

It took close to three years for Jellum to figure out Bollywood and in that period he watched more than 200 movies with translations and, as he puts it, it took him time to not find all the song and dance funny. But once he got into the entertainment ethos of Hindi cinema, he decided his version of it at Dubai Parks would be powered by the three Khans — SRK, Salman and Aamir — around whom he has built the two most thrilling rides of this sprawling park Lagaan and Ra.One.

 “Each show and each ride has all been carefully developed to completely transport our guests into the world of Bollywood, whether they are chasing don, flying with Krrish, being saved by Chulbul Pandey or playing cricket with Bhuvan. Bollywood is cherished and adored not just by people in the region, but by a large global audience and we are positive that the Park will be the hottest destination in Dubai this year,” Jellum said.

Back in India, Bollywood is a life in itself, powering the bumbling industry as well the audiences across the nation but, strangely, not many advances have been made in the theme parks industry here, especially in the Bollywood section. The closest Disneyland, for example, is all the way away in Hong Kong. The gingerly steps that the amusement park industry has taken in India have resulted in fits and starts openings of parks around cities, catering mostly to local people, definitely not drawing pan-Indian tourism or foreign tourists to any kind of rides-based facility even in the family travel segment. Considering that the first ever amusement park in the world opened in England way back in 1885, that’s a long time taken to pick up the trend.

That Indian entrepreneurs are yet to tap into this otherwise fertile industry is surprising, considering that the amusement park visitors from Asia with 368 million annually stand second only to America’s 375 million. Come to think of it, why Disney which has an increasing presence in the production of high profile Bollywood movies, would not think of a Walt Disney park in ready-to-spend billion pockets that India has is a question that remains baffling.

Dubai, meanwhile, is expecting at least 20 million guests by 2020 with 6.7 million projected this year itself. And these, according to Jullen, would include not just the ride enthusiasts but also weddings, special parties and corporate off-site bookings.

The Polynesian themed 501-roomed Lapita Hotel within the premises would look after these off-the-park plans around family-oriented activities pegged on fun pools, rides, spa and multi-palate F&B services.

The big question, however, is whether such a facility actually has the power to draw the tourist on “park-alone” holidays to Dubai. The six managers holding forte have no doubt about domestic and Emirate inflow but are keeping their fingers crossed on how the foreign tourist will pan out. The reach-outs through the travel agencies, tourism boards and package seller majors, they say, have elicited a positive response.

India, interestingly, has emerged as the largest source market of tourists for this Middle-East country, overtaking the British inflow. Dubai’s tourism agency reported 14.2 million overnight visitors last year with India as its largest source market for the first time. About 1.6 million people visited Dubai from India last year, a 26 per cent year-on-year increase, despite currency fluctuations and a slowdown in the global economy. “With Bollywood happening here as they have never seen before, this will definitely be added to the other attractions for them in Dubai. By when it will become the No. 1 attraction is still to be seen,” Jullen says. He feels that the Indian tourist is evolved enough to appreciate Hollywood too so Motiongate would be a big draw too.

Indeed, it is a concept that will grow brick-by-brick and that’s exactly what General Manager Siegfried Boerst expects after carving out the world’s seventh and Middle-East’s first Legoland facility.

Besides, of course, being a veteran at building up amazing structures with colourful baby bricks, Siegfried Boerst, the 53-year-old dishy German, seems to be a separated-at-birth identical twin of the dishy Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford. When pointed out, “at least my wife thinks so,” he says with a sheepish smile that lights up the huge seasonal Christmas structure he has put up at the entry of the Legoland Dubai.

With 40 rides, 15,000 Lego model structures made from 60 million Lego bricks and a dizzying water park at the end of it, it is a world in itself. You can fly a plane at the LEGO City airport, steer a boat at the boating school, or earn a Legoland driving licence. There’s a Master Builder Academy, a dragon coaster, car races, a pharaoh treasure hunt and a Kid Power Tower for a great view of this section. Boerst, says: “We are delighted to open the Middle East’s first Water Park specifically designed for families with children aged two-12. We are committed to offering memorable experiences and we look forward to welcoming families from the region and across the globe to experience awesome days soaked with adventure and fun.”

Carrying over two decades of Legoland experience into his Dubai assignment, Boerst has worked across three Legolands earlier — started off at Disneyland Paris in 1992 as assistant manager in charge of ticketing, went on to join Legoland Deutschland in 2001 as an admission and security manager  and then taking a big jump to oversee Legoland Malaysia in 2012. He has been in Dubai for four years now, dividing his time between teaching his daughter, spending time with his wife and shaping up the amazing facility at the Park.

“I used to meet my project team thrice a week. Buildings started as mere sketches. We used paints and materials to match the real Lego colours and constructions were then scaled up with real Lego bricks. For the Lego castle, for example, we wanted the bricks to have that smooth Lego-like look, but it’s a medieval castle, so we added texture to it,” he explains.

The tallest structure at Legoland Dubai is, of course, the Burj Khalifa which dominates the recreated Dubai Business Bay at Miniland where the international structures include the Taj Mahal. “The Burj Khalifa Lego was specifically redesigned because they knew Legoland would be coming here,” he informs you. Incidentally, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world, is also the tallest Lego sculpture in the world, made with 4,38,000 lego bricks.

While Leogland has five zones, Motiongate, the Hollywood section which is biggest area wise, is split into three sub-zones — Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks, Lionsgate, besides a cute Smurfs Village where colourful mushroom-capped houses draw you into the eatery. There’s Shrek and others too but the big miss in Marilyn Munroe.

In fact you wonder where the ladies have all gone because even in the Bollyoowd section, it is all about the men and their films — the three Big Khans, Hrithik Roshan, Amiabh Bachchan, Javed Akhtar but no Priyanka, Deepika or Katrina. “Personally, I would have loved to have Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif,” says Jullen admitting there’s been a miss here not having the women around the men.

The 27 rides, including the five roller coasters are interesting but no match for the Bollywood thrills. The Transylvania Castle ride is not spooky enough for any child above age five, the Ghostbusters is for even smaller kids. However, Zombieland is a freefall of 53 metres which gets the adrenaline somewhat rising. The upcoming Hunger Games rollercoaster later this year will, perhaps, be the high point that is still missing to a certain extent.

The Hollywood Boulevard, an alluring walkway into the activity zones is quaint with tastefully recreated shopping outlets and studio structures merged in with eateries.

To sum up, Dubai has been developing out of the box, not just because it has giant frame as a restaurant skyscraper, an entire rainforest in a hotel embedded in the desert and the world’s tallest building. Now it also has a uniquely themed amusement park. As a journalist would put it, content all high quality, but marketing will still be the leading factor.

DON, THE CHASE BEGINS: This thrilling and immersive 3D media tunnel ride takes you on an epic chase alongside shadowy Interpol agent as you rush past iconic skyscrapers and try to catch the ever elusive Don, always a step ahead, taunting you with cunning moves and precision driving through the spectacular city of  Dubai.

LAGAAN, THRILL OF VICTORY: An adrenaline pumping virtual cricket match as part of Bhuvan and his team against the British Raj.

SHOLAY, THE HUNT FOR GABBAR:  A pacey, 3D interactive dark ride arms you with sound injected infrared guns to shoot the dacoits who are led by all-time great villain Gabbar Singh from Sholay. As guided vehicles take you around the zig-zag road with the Gabbar gang stalking you from the walls on either side, you score points by trying to shoot them down with guns plonked on stands in front of your seat.

DABANGG, STUNT SHOW: Scintillating action, tickling one- liners and a lot of song and dance punctuate this fun ride with Salman Chulbul Pandey as he rescues his girl Rajo and her friends in an explosive spectacle. The ride is set in an abandoned warehouse with baddies all around trying to kill Chulbul.

RA.ONE, UNLEASHED: Ra.One, much like the SRK film, is multi-sensory 4D theatre adventure into the heart of the virtual world.

KKRISH, HERO’S FIGHT: This one is the best of the lot in which you get to soar in the skies with superhero Kkrish (Hrithik Roshan) getting a panoramic view of India's most spectacular landmarks, from Taj to Qutab Minar to what not in the battle to save the Earth.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 22 January, 2017