IBLOG SPACE

Stephen Hawking is easily parodied. After all, Lou Gehrig's Disease has turned him into a paralyzed, wheelchair bound man who speaks with a computer and whose only expression really comes from his eyes. The irony of one of the world's smartest men being so physically incapable is often used as the focal point of jokes. Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a diatribe about how making those jokes is wrong. What is wrong, though, is that Hawking is being regarded more and more widely as more of a joke and less as the brilliant thinker and scientist that he actually is. Thankfully, there's Genius of Britain (from Acorn Media, 5/31) for that. Aided by well-edited jump cuts and excellent production value, Hawking's ideas are presented to the audience in an easy-to-understand, yet not condescending way. Of course, Hawking isn't the only British scientist featured. Richard Dawkins, David Attenborough, and James Dyson are among the other scientists who featur

Things are not looking up for Ned Stark after the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. His biggest ally in King's Landing - King Robert - is now dead. Ned failed to tell him of the true paternity of Cersei's children before he died, but sent word to his brother, Stannis Baratheon, that he should come to take his rightful place as king. Unfortunately, Cersei played her hand and put her son Joffrey on the throne the moment her husband passed away. Dismissive of Ned's claims that he should rule as regent until the rightful heir appears (who he proclaimed is not Joffrey), Cersei then helped instigate a fight that broke out in the throne room. And Littlefinger has, seemingly, turned against Ned. But the Lannisters are going to be pressing every advantage in the next new episode of Game of Thrones, airing June 5. It's not hard to believe that Cersei and Jamie will do anything to hold onto the throne now that they've managed to kill and scheme their way into it

Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister had a very conspicuous absence from Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones ("You Win or You Die," 5/29), and in his stead the spotlight was taken -- no, seized -- by Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish. Played marvelously by Irish actor Aiden Gillen (The Wire, Identity), Littlefinger leapt to the center of the fold, and maybe -- just maybe -- overtook Tyrion as show's most watchable character. Spoilers are below if you haven't seen the episode. Littlefinger's early episode monologue/soliloquy was the single best change from novel to screen that Game of Thrones has accomplished. It gave us a bit of insight into his mind, his motivations, and really, crafted him into a more immediately engrossing character than he was in the novels (though his slow build in the books is equally fascinating. Just look at this excerpt from that monologue, which takes place between Littlefinger and a prostitute, Roz, who he is hiring fo

You don't really know what to expect when you see the cover of The Red Green Show: The Midlife Crisis Years (from Acorn Media, out 5/31). Is it some zany Cheech and Chong-esque comedy series? Is it a sixties-set peace-and-love comedy starring Jeff Bridges? The possibilities are endless, though the cover turns out to give you all the wrong hints completely. The show is actually about Canadian rednecks. Yeah, I didn't really see it coming either. The strange thing about the Red Green breed of rednecks, aside from the fact that they're Canadian, is that there's a very noticeable lack of malcontent. In American culture, rednecks are usually portrayed as bigoted angry people. Red and his friends just aren't -- in fact, there's a surprising lack of any of the negative aspects of redneck culture. Steve Smith (star and creator of the show) seems to have left all of that out in favor of witty and generally nice guys who just happen to repair everything with duct tape

Here's the bad news: there are only 10 episodes of Game of Thrones in season 1. Which means that the season finale will be airing on June 19. The good news, however, is that a new episode of Game of Thrones will be airing tonight, and things are heating up politically. Here's a few things to watch out for in tonight's new episode. King's Landing & Politics: Ned Stark, armed with the knowledge that Jon Arryn died after learning the true paternity of Queen Cersei's children, confronts the queen with the truth and threatens to expose her to King Robert. But Robert returns wounded from his recent hunt and wants Ned to put his affairs in order in case he dies. While the king lies wounded in bed, several men encourage Ned to take steps to shape the next royal court in the event that Robert dies. I won't spoil the ending for you, but let's just say that Cersei plots to take down the King's Hand, while several other members of the court are not what

There is only one word to describe Mukul Deora- 'Multi-faceted'. Coming from a very strong political family, Mukul knew it right from the beginning that he was more inclined towards the creative arts. After having completed his business management from London, Mukul began pursuing his interest in music and started his career as a DJ. He later wrote, composed and produced his debut album 'Stray' which did quite well. In the interim he was also running a packaging solutions company which he later sold. He's also dabbled in conceptual art and had a solo art show titled 'BREAK' in Mumbai couple of years ago. Mukul is now in the news as he has turned producer with Bheja Fry 2 (sequel to the hugely successful 2007 flick Bheja Fry ). As we meet at his office of Watchtower Films in suburban Mumbai, Mukul shares his journey from being a musician to turning producer. Read on… From being a business management graduate to a musician to a conceptual ar

AARTI CHABRI

Kunal Kohli considers his new film's leading man Shahid Kapoor his lucky mascot. It's a privilege for which Shahid had to pay a heavy price on Wednesday when he had to rush from his all-night shooting on one end of town to another for the first day's shooting of his new film directed by Kunal Kohli, although Shahid was not required for shooting on that day. Moreover, the actor has been advised to take it easy after the hand injury he suffered last week. But Kohli apparently insisted that Shahid show up for the first day's shooting. Says a source, "Shahid was shooting the whole night with Sonam Kapoor for Mausam at Goregaon. They were't easy scenes. They were emotional confrontation scenes. Shahid was emotionally and physically exhausted by the end of it. But Kunal was keen that Shahid show up at the shooting." With no time to go back home after the all-night shooting, Shahid, rather hastily, rushed from the location of his father'

Shweta Pandit may not be the no. 1 on the charts right now but she definitely is the no. 1 choice of A.R Rahman for his LIVE concerts and tours around the globe and in India currently. So as you keep listening to Pandit over and over again, you find out that her ambitions stretch way beyond being a one-hit wonder. The crucial thing about Shweta is that she sees herself not as just another on-stage or playback muppet, but as a living, breathing work of art. Besides she also writes songs for herself and for others and has her own fashion house named Golmaal, a store that makes her day to day designer wear. But all that remains is her entourage which I'm sure will soon arrive the next time I interview her, knowing that her rise to stardom is quicker than the many shares of the stock market. Pandit insists that not only are her songs inextricably linked to her performance and to her life in general, but also that she is doing something tangibly different from anything

She is definitely the hottest thing that has happened to Bollywood last year. She is none other than the (literal) Golden Girl Sonakshi Sinha! And you can see this flower in full bloom in the latest edition of Hi! Living. In this issue, besides talking about her life, Sonakshi does a contemporary take by donning a slip and trousers from Gucci, with a layered two piece dress, accompanied by diamond necklace and other accessories that complement the tinsel town's latest 'it' girl. Though elegant in her own way, in todays time, you rarely see an actress saying no to skin show. Sonakshi is one such actress who has always stayed away from skin show. Talking about it, she states, "It's my choice after all. If people don't want to take me in their films, they will not..." A lot more revelations like these by Sonakshi in the latest edition of Hi! Living. 

One of the most awaited sequels is Double Dhamaal which brings back the four jokers namely Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi and Ashish Chowdhry along with Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut and Mallika Sherawat. While the promo surely has you in splits by now, wait till you hear this... Apparently, Ashish Chowdhry would be seen in the film dressed as a glamorous girl called Barbara Horie. With fake silicone implants, a lean figure, authentic hair wigs, Ashish has gone all out to look as hot a girl as possible. While we give you a sneak peek at Ashish as Barbara Horie wait till you get your full dose of Double Dhamaal which releases on June 24. 

Adah Sharma is not scarier, she isn't dating any director or a singer and she isn't lost in wilderness, and if this isn't sarcasm, what is? It amuses her to recall and she has left her past only to accept her present as a gift. But today Adah is on cloud nine, a bit closer though, and on top of the world (that includes her terrace) as she invites me to her apartment terrace. Weird isn't it? It's almost 7.30 pm and the sun has set. She is standing at a distance on the top of a huge tank built on the terrace and that scared the s*** out of me. And what was an actress doing on the top of the tank of her terrace? Actors are eccentric sometimes, aren't they? Anyway, I climb up the tank and there she was offering me a refreshing rose drink: a perfect way to quench your thirst on a humid Monday evening. You might want to remember the name Adah Sharma as she is storming the small screen with her big brand commercials: Nokia with Sharman Joshi, Olay with Kat

Salman Khan is doing Ek Tha Tiger and as is the popular belief in the industry, he has pretty much consented to work on this Yash Raj film on his own terms. Though one can certainly not expect the Chopras to come out and either support or refute this claim since they have traditionally been quite dignified in such matters, one does wonder that with Salman being the star attraction, whether director Kabir Khan would manage to bring in the kind of individuality that he demonstrated so very well in Kabul Express and New York . "Post Veer , Salman has been quite conscious about the making of his films. He participates in all departments of filmmaking and now has openly claimed that he sits during the editing process as well", informs an insider, "For Dabangg , he was in total creative control and for Ready too, even with Anees Bazmee at the helm of affairs, he is up-to-date with day to day progress of the film. While some veteran filmmakers may feel that th

This was one Happy Birthday song that cost Sonakshi Sinha a bomb. Well, literally as she ended up losing a solitaire worth Rs. 25 lakhs in the bargain. A desire to wish her Joker director Shirish Kunder best wishes on his 38th birthday at the stroke of 12 on Monday night proved to be way too costly for her, what with someone walking away with her diamond solitaire that she had kept in her vanity van. Informs a source from the film's crew, "The entire cast and crew of the film, including Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha, had planned for a cake cutting celebrations for Shirish's birthday on the sets of Joker . Since the film is going through a night shoot, it was just apt that the filmmaker's birthday was brought in on mid-night itself. When everyone walked down together to wish Shirish, Sonakshi moved out of her film costume and got into something more casual and comfortable. In the process, she also left behind her costly solitaire in her vanity van thi

Saif Ali Khan has a secret love in Bhopal. It is the motorcycle that his character rides all over the city in Bhopal. Apparently, Saif became so attached to this motorbike that he has requested his director Prakash Jha to let him keep it in Mumbai, and not just as a memento but to even ride in the city. The unit refers to Saif's bike as Basanti. Laughs Jha, "It is Saif's character's transportation in my film. Saif got really attached to 'Basanti'. We'd often find him missing from location. Initially, we were worried. But eventually we got know he was exploring Bhopal, the city where Saif has his roots." In the course of his Bhopal Yatra on 'Basanti', Saif befriended number of locals and even gave them rides on his bike. Such was his passion for zips down Bhopal's roads during the shooting of Aarakshan that he and the motorbike became recognizable figures in and around Bhopal. Even the locals began to refer to Saif's t

Plagued by charges of plagiarism, Pritam Chakraborty who often finds it tough to defend himself stoutly at public places when under verbal attack, found an unlikely but formidable support-system in Salman Khan on Friday evening at a press conference for Ready at a suburban hotel. It happened when someone from the press corps asked Pritam why he had again copied a song ' Character Dheela Hai ' in Ready . Says an eyewitness, "Before Pritam could gather his thoughts together and think of a proper response, Salman jumped out of his seat and said, 'Which song has Pritam copied? Aren't you talking about the lyrics being similar? Don't you know Pritam hasn't written the lyrics? Ask the lyricist for the lyrics, not the guy who composed the song." Pritam was deeply moved by Salman's defence. He told a friend that in all these years no one had defended him publicly although he had been accused of plagiarism so many times. After the pres

What happens if a Bollywood bombshell moves southwards? Well, all the heat starts getting diverted southwards, thus rising the temperature to an all time high! That's exactly has happened with the hot babe Pooja Missra. Pooja has just recently shot for a south India mag called 'Tulip'. In this mag, she shares her beauty tips, her dream role, her most interesting person till date, future projects, her take on Mumbai etc. All in all, an issue worth a read!