Harry Potter will survive past July 21, 2007, the publication date of J.K. Rowling’s final Potter book, predicts a British literature expert at the University of New Hampshire, because in the end, good has to win over evil.

According to UNH Professor James Krasner, Rowling’s threat to kill at least two main characters in her final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is her way of taking control and is not unlike actions taken by other authors whose books have become extremely popular with readers.

In the end, however, Harry will survive. “There’s no way Harry will die,” he says. “Harry won’t die largely because these are comic stories, like Dickens’ novels, in which good has to win.” “Whenever an author’s books become very popular in his or her lifetime, as is the case with Rowling, a tug of war starts between the author and the fans about who the characters really belong to.

Artist INSA has joined together with design firm Rousseau to create the cool hanging bubble chair. The chair is actually part of the Designersblock 2008 show in London. This illuminated hanging bubble chair comes with an INSA’s trademark motifs. I like the purple color of the chair. Find out more pictures after the jump. 

The Zee Cine Awards promise to be one star studded affair. As was reported earlier, Shahrukh Khan will be performing on stage. And giving him company on stage will be Amrita Arora. And this being the first time that Amrita will perform with the King Khan, she just can’t control her excitement.
The performance will be a tribute to Yash Raj Films. Rani, Priyanka, Preity, Dia and Amrita will all be a part of the medley. Each of them will perform two songs with SRK. Khan himself will be performing on all the songs. Apart from this tribute, Amrita will also perform with Riteish and Tusshar on a medley of love songs. Her outfits for the grand event have been designed by Anna Singh.

Performing with SRK sure must be a heady feeling. But the only thing that will dampen her spirits a wee bit is the fact that her boyfriend Usman Afzal, will be in Nagpur, commenting on the England-India cricket match. The awards function will be hosted by Mallika Sherawat and Karan Johar. Other celebrity presenters include Arjun Rampal and Gulshan Grover.

The Hindi feature film Paheli directed by Amol Palekar has been selected as India’s entry in the foreign films category at the Oscars. A 10-member jury, headed by noted filmmaker Vinod Pandey, made the selection after week-long deliberations, Secretary of Film Federation of India Supran Sena said.

“I’m happy at the nomination of the film for the Oscars”, said Palekar in Pune. The film is produced by actor Shah Rukh Khan who also plays the lead role in it. Rani Mukherjee is the other key actor in the movie.

Asked if he would go for lobbying which plays an important role in mobilising opinion in favour of a film at the Oscars, the director “it is not the lobbying but the subject matter of the film which is important.”

Paheli beat 14 other films including Swades, Veer-Zaara, Black, Parineeta, Page 3, Iqbal, Mangal Pandey and Marathi film Uttarayan for the nomination, Sena said.

Paheli, which, according to Palekar deals with a “woman’s right to make a choice”, is a love story set in the picturesque locales of Rajasthan.

Paheli is based on the novel by leading Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha and the same book was reproduced on the celluloid by Mani Kaul several years back.

Palekar said when he narrated the script of Paheli to Shah Rukh, he liked it so much that he offered to produce it.

He said Shah Rukh is an “able producer” and “everything depends on him how he handles things in the run up to the Oscars.

The director said he and Shah Rukh would sit together and frame the strategy.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan starring Aamir Khan and Marathi film Shwaas were nominated for Oscars in the last few years but missed the eventual glory.

According to Palekar, Paheli, which also features Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Juhi Chawla, Suniel Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan, was completed in only 47 days.

Marathi film Shwaas, which was India’s entry to the Oscars in 2004, could not live up to the hype generated.

Some of the earlier entries in the last few years include the Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas.

The following have been some of India’s entries to the Oscars over the years: Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Guru Dutt’s Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam (1963), Shyam Benegal’s Ankur (1974) and Manthan (1978), Mahesh Bhatt’s Saransh (1985).

Interestingly, directors of three of the last four Indian entries for the Oscars are from Maharashtra from where late Dadasaheb Phalke, pioneer of the Indian film industry hailed.

According to media reports, the king of Bollywood ShahRukh Khan labelled himself a ‘geek’, insisting that it’s in the ‘positive sense of the word’. “I was introduced to computers at an early age, in class VII,” ShahRukh Khan reminisced. Reportedly, King Khan dabbles more with his computer than his cell phone.

The media reported that, during his school days at St Columbus in Delhi, Shah Rukh had learned the basics of disk operating system (DOS) and programming languages like Basic and COBOL, and later graduated to use an Apple Macintosh which remains one of his favourite computers.
The actor is reported to be tech-savvy so much so that he even edits movies on Avid (a film-editing software) and uses the latest laptops with sensors that can follow a two-finger trail and scroll pages. He’s even planning to have his own special effects studio.

ShahRukh Khan was quoted saying, “Red Chilies, as a matter of fact, is looking at getting into special effects and we intend to make two films this year. I don’t run Red Chillies with a commercial bent of mind. I like to do one film that does well commercially and then experiment with something new like ‘Paheli’.”

So, commercial film feature first in ShahRukh Khan’s priority list and then comes offbeat films. “The thrust of Red Chillies is to be educated in all kinds of cinema and technology is something that I really promote in my company. So, the next step forward is that by the end of this year, I would like to have my own special effects unit in place,” added ShahRukhKhan.

Shahrukh, you are King Khan in the real sense of the term!!!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has declined to co-star with Hollywood wonder-boy again.

This is the third time she has said no to the besotted Will Smith who in a BBC interview had raved about Rai-Bachchan, “She has this powerful energy where she doesn’t have to say anything, do anything, she can just stand there. Anything she’s making I’ll be there.”

Two years ago Will offered Aishwarya the comedy Hitch (later remade into Hindi with Salman Khan as Partner). She couldn’t do the film due to time constraints.

In quick succession, Aishwarya has turned down two Will Smith projects.

“That’s true,” she laughs. “I had to say no to Will for Tonight He Comes (Smith’s super-hero flick re-named John Hancock).I feel awful about it. But I’ve my priorities very straight. Yes, family always comes first.”

Contrary to reports Aishwarya didn’t decline another Will Smith project The Seven Pounds to celebrate Karwa Chauth with her husband Abhishek in Mumbai.

“That’s what they wrote in the US press …that I preferred to return to Mumbai to STARVE myself for a religious occasion than to meet Will for the film. That’s completely incorrect.

The script reading for The Seven Pounds was just after Diwali when Dadimaa’s (Mrs Teji Bachchan)’s health dipped drastically. So I didn’t make that trip out to LA for the reading with Will. Is that wrong? Not to me. I’d any day put family over career.”

So are Ash and Will star crossed? “When it has to happen it will happen. We’d love to work together. There’s something very charismatic about that actor. He gives off very nice vibes. He’s very adventurous as an actor.

He does I Am Legend and Pursuit Of Happiness at the same time. He’s an actor, rapper, and a great family man. He likes to be adventurous. I like that.”

Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan making his directorial debut with U, Me aur Hum, scheduled to release later this month, says his maiden project brings out the positivity of relationship between a husband and wife.

Ajay who is paired opposite his actress wife of nine years Kajol in the film said it was a simple love story about a man who marries a girl he loves and overcomes all hurdles to maintain the relationship.

“The film doesn’t give a sermon on relationships. The audiences will identify with the characters. What is different in the subject is that the film looks at the institution of marriage in a positive way,” the actor said.

“A lot of people question the institution of marriage, or blame it when problems arise. I feel that in a marriage, or any relationship for that matter, problems are inevitable. “Giving up should be our last option. However, an increasing number of people just prefer to give up at the first sign of trouble,” Devgan said.

The actor who began his career with action packed roles, said he felt that relationships, especially marriages need to be nurtured with love, sensitivity and understanding. “People keep asking me what inspired me to chose this subject and direct a film. To be honest, this is a story straight from my heart. A story which I strongly believed in,” he told reporters here last night.

Ajay also affirms to the concepts like love at first sight, happy marriages and soulmates. “I know that they exist and hence they are important elements of my film,” the actor added.

The actor said he was aware that he cannot change the way people think or live their lives through his film. “A film is meant to entertain you and give your money’s worth. Besides entertaining the audience, if the film makes them introspect on the state of their relationships or encourages them to improve it, my success will be much greater,” he said.

When asked about his experiences off-screen, Ajay said he was well versed with the nuances of filmmaking as he had assisted Shekhar Kapur before joining films and even helped father Veeru Devgan, veteran action director in editing.

believe that if your vision as a director is clear and are backed by an efficient crew, there will be no hurdles,” he said. peaking about his wife, Ajay said he was fortunate enough to direct a film with a powerful and efficient actress like Kajol.

She is always thorough with the nitty-gritties of her character before she begins shooting. In this film, she is not only the lead actress but also the producer. Since the screenplay work happened at home, Kajol was present for all the sittings and even gave her inputs. vhe made my work as a director much easier,” Ajay signs off. 

Ajay Devgan has indeed come a long way from his debut film ‘Phool Aur Kaante’ in 1991. Beginning his career as an action star, Ajay slowly but surely matured professionally and soon established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema. Today, the actor has not only survived most of his contemporaries but is also much sought after by filmmakers of repute. Ajay has such memorable films as ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and ‘Zakhm’ – the latter earning him his first National Award. Today, with a string of hits behind him, the actor is not only picking up the cream of roles in Bollywood, but also awards for excellent performances. In fact, he recently won his second National Award for Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’. Ajay is married to well known actress Kajol and has a daughter, Nysa.

Mumbai, Apr 13: Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan has become the new brand ambassador of LG Electronics for its Intello range of products.

“Our aim is to make our brand younger and brighter and Abhishek Bachchan is the most eligible bachelor in the country to fit our brief well,” LG Electronics, marketing head, Sandeep Tiwari told reporters here today.

Bachchan has been signed for a period of two years starting March 2006, he said refusing to disclose the contract amount.

“Historically, consumer durable brands have portrayed women as a perfect wife, homemaker or mother, but through our new campaign we would break the regular mindset and move up one level by thanking her for what she is and LG brings in its Intello home appliances in making her feel special,” he added.

This campaign is conceptualised by `Parineeta’ film Director, Pradeep Sarkar.

Tiwari added that LG has outlayed a sum of Rs 225-250 crore for its advertising and marketing campaigns this financial year.

Abhishek Bachchan has knocked out Vivek Oberio in the desifans hoTTest Bollywood Celeb contest getting 82% while Vivek left with just 18%. John Abraham, Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai move on to the semi finals of the desifans war of the celebs.

The quarter finals for the hottest celebrity wrapped yesterday and here is a run down of your hottest celebrity fresh and sizzling from the desifans poll. The female and the male stars were sub categorized into quite a few sections to encompass all the major celebrities of Bollywood
The hottest bollywood Kajra re queen Aishwarya Rai won the hearts of her fans by conquering 75% of votes over the Asoka girl Kareena Kapoor. Priyanka Chopra just edged out over the dusky fervid Bipasha Basu by winning 52 % of the votes. Rani Mukherjee, the bollywood sultry with a romantic husky voice has topped over the sexy bollywood belle, Mallika Sherawat by acquiring 67% of the votes.
When it comes to the men, Abhishek Bachchan with big blockbusters like Bluffmaster and Bunty aur Bubbli dominated with 82 % votes over the historic warrior poet Vivek Oberoi. Shahrukh Khan, the badshah of Bollywood won over the HumTum star Saif Ali Khan by enjoying 72% of the votes. John Abraham claimed as a hotter star by winning 64 % of the votes over Hritik Roshan, the agile bollywood hero. The last subcategory had the controversial Khan, Salman Khan ruling with his brawny biceps over the Dil Chahta Hai Bollywood celebrity Amir Khan.

The Semi Finals are all ready to roll with the winning hot and sizzling bollywood stars paired randomly into the next round. Keep your spirits up and cast your votes and help your hottest star win the poll. Do visit us and browse through the latest news about your favorite stars and make the polls successful because it’s for you the stars are what they are.