Bollywood star Madhavan wows Saudi fans

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Bollywood star Madhavan wows Saudi fans - Arab News



RIYADH: R. Madhavan, a Bollywood actor, spread euphoria in the capital city at an inaugural ceremony of the Joyalukkas jewelry showroom, attended by thousands of fans here Thursday night.

The horde of fans, with dozens of cameras held high over their heads, jostled with each other while waiting at the Lulu Hypermarket for a chance to get a glimpse of Maddy (Madhavan), arguably one of the world's most famous and popular movie stars.

At a press conference after cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the showroom, Madhavan apologized at the very outset to his fans in Riyadh, especially to his Saudi brothers, for his inability to speak to them and shake hands with them because of the surging unruly crowds at the mall.

Maddy also later tweeted: "My most profound apologies to all you lovely people in Riyadh"¦.I had to leave hurriedly because people were getting injured. The police did not allow me to address you all as the crowd was getting out of hand."

In his opening remarks at the press briefing, Madhavan said: "I am extremely happy to visit a great country like Saudi Arabia for the first time, but I wish I had a little more time to spend in this country to see other places ... But unfortunately I have to fly back tonight for the shooting of my Hindi film, Jodi Breakers."

Joy Alukkas, chairman of the Joyalukkas Group, also spoke on the occasion, and thanked Maddy for his time in joining the inauguration and said that the group is planning to open another large-format jewelry showroom in Jeddah within a few months from now.

Referring to the need for Lulu and Joyalukkas management to control the huge crowd of fans gathered at the hypermarket, a senior Joyalukkas executive Tomy Joseph said, "The actor was rushed out of the venue before addressing the crowd." The fans went crazy at seeing Maddy at their place. The actor, Joseph said, was escorted to the venue of the press conference with great difficulty as the crowd went berserk on spotting Maddy. Everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the actor and to stand beside him for a souvenir photo, he added.

Later, the actor had to wait several minutes till his guards including senior Saudi officials of the Lulu Hypermarket led by Sehim Mohammed Unni, regional director, made way for Maddy to proceed to the airport on Thursday night.

Born to a Tamil-speaking family, Madhavan a renowned Indian film actor, producer and television host, has also made a mark on the small screen, in the southern film industry and Bollywood. "His popularity was seen in Riyadh ... in fact all streets leading to Lulu Hypermarket were clogged with no space for parking around a three-kilometers radius," said Rashid A. Khan and Osama Hamid Khan, who parked their cars about two kilometers away from the mall.

Madhavan, whose two major Tamil films are set to break all records on box office beside the recent Hindi films like "Three Idiots" and "Jodi Breakers" (to be released shortly), was accompanied by Joy Alukkas and John Paul Alukkas, executive director of Joyalukkas Group, to the opening ceremony of the showroom.

John said that the jewelry showroom inaugurated by the award-winning actor Madhavan will offer a wide choice of international and traditional jewelry designs, generic jewelry in gold, diamond, platinum and pearl as well as silver jewelry.

He pointed out that this spacious state-of-the-art showroom has been built as per the global standards of the Joyalukkas jewelry retail chain. Referring to the whole range of jewelry to be displayed and sold at the showroom, he said that the showroom features exquisite contemporary, international and ethnic collections popular and sought after by millions around the world. He pointed out that the company features its fantastic collections of jewelry in gold, diamond, platinum, precious stone and pearls.

"Our collections have been accepted internationally and we are hoping to meet all the expectations of jewelry lovers in Riyadh," said Joy Alukkas, while giving details of the expansion plan. He said that Joyalukkas Group was planning a strong presence in the Kingdom.

"We will be opening our third showroom in Jeddah this year followed by three top-class showrooms in Jubail, Dammam and Al-Hasa later," said Joy, adding that the Riyadh showroom is the 39th outlet for Joyalukkas, which caters to over 10 million loyal customers from around the world.

He pointed out that the Joyalukkas strongly understands the needs and aspirations of all types of jewelry buyers.

"On global level also, Joyalukkas are currently on a rapid expansion course with new showrooms set to open in many parts of India and the Middle East and we are also venturing into Singapore shortly," said a statement released by Joyalukkas.

The statement said that Joyalukkas has been awarded the super brand status for two years in a row in the UAE and has also received recognition from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minister and ruler of Dubai.

Joyalukkas Group is a world-renowned jewelry chain with branches in India, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Joyalukkas milestone includes the Limca Book of Awards recognition for its showroom in the south Indian city of Chennai as the 'Largest jewelry showroom in the world'.

Joyalukkas gold products were 100 percent BIS hallmarked and diamond products 100 percent IGI-certified.
 

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