Bollywood entertained and that’s how I learnt languages

SAbdul-Qader Al-Raisi, owner of Al Maqas Al Zahabi shop

tationed some blocks away from Al Fahidi metro station, Al Maqas Al Zahabi is a shop owned by UAE born-and-bred Abdul-Qader Al-Raisi, 59. When you enter the 36-year old shop, you find AlRaisi either humming an old Bollywood song or flaunting the languages he’s mastered over time: Hindi, English, Sindhi, Gujarati. Besides Arabic, of course. “When I started the shop, this area had just one building — the Ramada hotel. The area behind the hotel was a desert. I’ve been working in the Al Fahidi area for 35 years now. I don’t work anymore, but I don’t like to disassociate from it. So I come to sit in the shop daily,” he smiles.

Al-Raisi has a vague recollection of the “first 2nd December”. He was a grade 5 student of Islamic Institute in Al Ain at the time. He racks his brain to remember the highlights of the day when the Union was formed. “National Day is the only event that is celebrated on such a large scale, and that’s why it’s so special for us. The Flag Day is, in fact, more recent,” says Al-Raisi.

Al-Raisi dabbled in textiles and movies before setting up a shop that caters to people across ages, with items ranging from portable chargers and clothes, to homeware. His teens were spent assisting his father in a textile company they owned. In 1982, Al-Raisi shifted focus to something he always loved — cinema. With Adnan Al Raisi Video, a movie and video distribution business that he started with two partners, Al-Raisi got into the business of film distribution, sourcing films from Cairo, India and Kuwait. He says, “The sole entertainment back then was Bollywood movies, which was how I picked up languages.”

The multiplex culture didn’t exist during Al-Raisi’s growing-up years. Standalone, open-air cinemas were a thing — a classic concept that’s now making a comeback in Dubai. “I must’ve watched Sholay some one hundred times in the theatre! We would watch movies in the open-air cinema. Oasis Cinema in Al Ain was my favourite. The area we lived in, in Al Ain, had just 10-12 buildings and a standalone movie theatre.”

Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan? After firmly shaking his head with a rueful ‘no’ to the names, he counters with, “Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan”.

“I met several actors and producers through my business. Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu even visited my movie store! I wound down the business in 2003, as it became costlier to buy the rights for a movie, after the copyright rule was introduced in 1994. Although the price would vary for movies and TV series, typically, a movie’s rights would cost $250,000. Bollywood movies were the most expensive. The Egyptian actor Adel Emam’s movies were expensive... I still have the original trade licence, but we have stopped the video distribution business. It continues only in Global Village, where we rent a stall and sell cartoons for children.”

Al-Raisi talks of a time with only a day-long weekend. “Initially, the weekend was just Friday. We would spend the day offering our prayers, and on longer weekends, we would head out to Hatta for leisure.”

Father to eight children and a proud grandparent too, AlRaisi doesn’t waste any opportunity to narrate childhood stories to his grandchildren. “There was either limited or no electricity in those days, and we didn’t have set work hours. Our duty was from sunrise to sunset.”

Apart from movies, what else was he into? What’s his favourite shawarma joint? He thinks the shawarma isn’t a proper meal, and is a snack that you munch on at intervals, but his tip is this: “Samad Al Iraqi in Jumeirah had the best shawarma, back then and even now. When I was in school, we would all often eat from the Indian restaurant adjacent to our school building. I think it was called Bismillah.”

Step into Al-Raisi’s shop and chat with him to see exactly why his office is his second home. After devoting 46 years of his life to his work, he still comes in everyday, pulls up a chair, and reminisces about the Al Fahidi neighbourhood from more than three decades ago.

When I started the shop, this area had just one building — the Ramada hotel. The area behind the hotel was a desert. I’ve been working in the Al Fahidi area for 35 years now.