Built by Dubai Parks and Resorts LLC, a Meraas holding company, the destination has 16 rides and attractions within five theme areas which are Bollywood Film Studios, Mumbai Chowk, Hall Of Heroes, Regal Plaza and Rustic Ravine. There is live entertainment and street theatre as you enter at the Bollywood Boulevard, along with a host of retail outlets and a number of swanky restaurants.
Spread over around 69 acres (3 million square feet) the Bollywood ParksTM Dubai promises to be a colossal structure.
Bollywood has a global fan base of over three billion people. Here guests can live, learn, and immerse themselves in the delightful fantasy that they get to experience on the silver screen. But before you enter and get lost in the Bollywoods, you can, in fact, get your dose of Hollywood in an adjoining park called motiongate Dubai theme park and if you want to have a fun time with legos then there is the LEGOLAND Dubai too. All the three parks are connected through Riverland Dubai, the grand entrance plaza and the Lapita Hotel, a Polynesian-themed resort.
MOTIONGATETM Dubai is the largest Hollywood-inspired theme park in the Middle East where the most popular cinematic adventures are brought to life and packed with action, fun and innovation. From Studio Central to the Sony Pictures Studio and DreamWorks, guests are in for a blast of entertainment. Let’s take a quick peek at what’s on offer:
Columbia Pictures
Step into the adventurous world of Columbia Pictures. Hang on tight as you embark on a high-speed chase, Green Hornet style. Join the Ghostbusters in a paranormal battle to save New York City. Or take on the Lycans with vampire warrior Selene in the supernatural universe of Underworld. Experience an action-packed land with 7 attractions, including a family water ride, coasters and interactive shows where ghosts roam, zombies rule and meatballs fall from the sky.
DreamWorks
Immerse yourself in the world of DreamWorks. Have you ever wanted to soar through the skies with Toothless? What about joining the Furious Five on an epic martial arts escapade?
You can, at this movie theme park! Explore four unique lands based on the blockbuster classics Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, and Shrek – all entirely indoors!
Play the hero and save the day with 12 mind-blowing attractions. Experience roller coasters, thrilling family rides, multimedia theatre shows and interactive play zones that you’ll never forget!
Gabbar Singh! Mein aa raha hoon...
Thakur Baldev Singh’s voice reverberated among the ravines in the all-time classic western Sholay, the cry for vengeance that climaxed with the killing of the dreaded dacoit. In the Rustic Ravine, you too can play-act the hunting down of Gabbar Singh.
Studio Central
Begin your journey into the world of film. Your journey starts by stepping into Studio Central. Get transported into the Golden Age of Hollywood at the real life movie sets of New York City. Go behind the scenes and discover the illusion of filmmaking, theatrical opening shows and the characteristic executive offices of a working movie studio. You’ve already seen the five popular movies in the series (who can forget where Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan first got together?) but you’ve never seen Step Up like this before.
They’re offering film fans a look at how they’re making their Step Up Dubai, All In! attraction, which involves an insane amount of choreography from the industry's top professionals.
Dancers from around the world are going through some amazing choreography to ensure they bring the best show ever to the park.
And then there is the biggest of all Bs – the Bollywood ParksTM; the first theme park in the world dedicated to all things Bollywood!
Action, adventure, romance, comedy, music, dance, flavour and emotion; all in Bollywood style. For the first time ever, you will live, learn and experience the kaleidoscopic world of Mumbai’s famous film industry, in the world’s first Bollywood themed park covering 1.7million square feet and spread across five zones.
So it’s easy to see why so much effort has been put into making the park the greatest it can be, and that includes flying out the stars themselves to help make some of the top attractions. Think the Khans of Bollywood i.e. Shahrukh from Don and Ra.One, Salman from Dabangg and Aamir from Lagaan. Hrithik Roshan from Krrish and Farhan Akhtar in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara also got involved to created 3D and 4D cinematic rides.
The five zones making up the park include Bollywood Boulevard, Royal Plaza, Rustic Ravine, Mumbai Chowk and Bollywood Film Studios featuring Hall of Heroes. Two hundred performers will be part of the various routines across five stages and in the first Broadway-style Bollywood Musical to the region at the Rajmahal Theatre.
An annual pass costs AED 755, with over 16 rides and attractions plus 20 daily live shows, spread across 1.7 million sqft. Tickets cost AED245 for a single and AED430 for multi parks.
Spread across five zones - Bollywood Boulevard, Mumbai Chowk, Rustic Ravine, Royal Plaza and Bollywood Film Studios featuring Hall of Heroes - the experiences are based on Rock On!!, Don, Lagaan, Sholay, Dabangg, Mughal-e-Azam, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, RA.One and Krrish.
The Hunt for Gabbar Singh
Set in the Rustic Ravine Zone, this 3D interactive dark ride arms you with laser guns to shoot the dacoits who are led by the terrifying villain Gabbar Singh from the hit movie Sholay. You have to compete with your friends to score the most hits. Hang around and treat yourself to some mangoes as your compete with your gang to see who has the best aim in hitting the fruits off the trees (Reminder of the famous VeeruBasanti romance in the mango orchard).
You can even soar through the skies across the multihued landscape of India with your personal escort - the superhero Krrish. This 4D flying theatre ride gives you panoramic views of India's spectacular landmarks and a front row seat to the battle to save Earth from an alien invasion.
Mumbai Chowk
Take a stroll down the streets of Mumbai with its famous food, shopping and party spirit. To add some thrill; join the mafia boss Don on a chase through the streets of Dubai
Rustic Ravine
The spirit of rural India comes to life in a picturesque setting. Be part of never-ending adventures as played out in Dabangg, Lagaan and Sholay.
Royal Plaza
Experience visual splendour like never before at the Rajmahal Theatre, the home of the region’s first Broadway-style Bollywood musical.
Bollywood Film Studios
Learn how to create a blockbuster like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and meet your favourite Bollywood superheroes, such as Krrish and RA.One at the exciting Bollywood theme park.
And then there are the live shows set along Bollywood lines – with dollops of drama, emotion, tragedy and of course action.
Taking place at the Rajmahal Theatre inside Bollywood ParksTM Dubai, the Jaan-e Jigar show is about brothers Jaan and Jigar and a “classic story of good vs evil.”
As you would expect from all things Bollywood, there will be plenty of colourful drama, singing and dancing (with impressive acrobatics too). Each day, the park will have up to 20 live shows across five stages: Rock On!!, Crossroads, Mumbai Express, Rangmanch and Stars on Steps.
The musical isn’t the only thing to look forward to at the Dubai Parks and Resorts location - inside the area is a stunning 850seat arena which has taken design inspiration from beautiful palaces (even the Taj Mahal) and the “intricate architectural designs of India.”
Bollywood ParksTM has also brought the cream of talent over from India to entertain the millions of guests that are soon to throng this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Besides these separately ticketed performances, there will be plenty more attractions based on musical-themed movies that are included in the price of the admission ticket.
So get ready to take the ride of your life in Dubai’s amazing theme parks with family and friends. Much like the Disney World, these parks will keep both the child and adult in you enthralled, and for those real children, the unfolding of an unreal world for real. And when you finally enter the park itself, the illusion is complete. Surrounding the rides, elaborate landscaping ensures that nothing spoils the illusion in this artificial world. Everything looks like jumping out of the screens in a cinema to be touched, felt, experienced – even though it’s all just skillfully constructed film-set scenery.
When it comes to the smaller stuff, the attention to detail is equally impressive.
Sometimes the boundary between reality and illusion becomes unclear.