MUMBAI: Anthony D’Souza will be premiering his film, Blue, on Wednesday night at the Middle East International Film Festival, which is currently being organized in Abu Dhabi. The director will be walking the red carpet with the cast of the film and its music director AR Rahman.

Speaking to Businessofcinema.com from Abu Dhabi, Anthony D’Souza, confirmed, “The entire cast including Akshay Kumar, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta are here to promote the film. Sanjay Dutt could not make it as he was shooting for producer, Sohail Maklai’s Knockout in Mumbai. AR Rahman, who has composed the music for the film, was specially invited for the premier.”

Zayed Khan, who is a hot favourite in the Middle East said, “All the tickets are sold out. The film will be premiered in a theatre which has a seating capacity of 1800 people. The whole cast including me are very excited as Blue has been shot with a lot of heart and skill. This is certainly a film that I will treasure as we have all gone beyond our limits to shoot for it.”

D’Souza also said that the film will not have an Indian premier. The cast of the film is expected to fly in tom for the final leg of promotion before its release on 16 October.

Sunil Doshi, maker of films like Bheja Fry and Halla Bol, is a jury member in this festival and he says, “The craze for Hindi films is huge in the middle east. There are hordes of people coming in to see our films. And with the premier of Blue and the presence of its cast in the city, the public has gone completely hysterical.”

The queues for passes are long and winding. Blue’s trailor has caught the attention of the people what with Lara Duta flaunting her Miss Universe body in skimpy bikinis and the shark fighting duels between the marine world and the hunks of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar, Zayed Khan and Sanjay Dutt.