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M Night Shyamalan's mysterious past to be revealed on July 18 (Go To Top)

          New York: Suspense movie expert M. Night Shyamalan may want to keep the suspense of his life under wraps, but he has apparently lost the legal battle in this regard. According to The New York Daily News, a science fiction documentary on the "Sixth Sense" director titled "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" will now be aired on July 18. Director Nathaniel Kahn and producer Callum Greene have said that they were invited by Shyamalan to work on this biographical documentary while he was fabricating his new movie, "The Village." The filmmakers have reportedly said that during the process of interviewing Shyamlan's friends and the director himself, they unearthed something they would refer to as a "pivotal event" in the life of the India-born director. "There's one secret that's surrounded by others. We felt that we were finding breadcrumbs through this forest and we followed them," Greene was quoted by the report as saying. Post this incident, Shyamalan turned hostile towards the project and even asked his lawyers to try get the project axed. The legal wrangle included barring the filmmakers from revealing anything about Shyamalan's past.

Kirsten Dunst's virginity hindered her early success (Go To Top)

          London: Film actress Kirsten Dunst has revealed that it was a long struggle initially for her in Hollywood, because she was a virgin. The 22-year old 'Spiderman' star said that her lack of sexual experience made it difficult for her to understand the roles she had to play. "The trouble was, I was really a virgin. I had had to act emotions that I had not felt or experienced," The Mirror quoted Kirsten as saying. However, the 'Monalisa' actress also revealed that she is now making up for lost time with her actor boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. "I have learnt that it is rare to find a sexual connection with someone. I was quite happy to wait. When I fell in love with Jake, it really felt right," added Kirsten.

Harry Potter got his name from the phone book (Go To Top)

          London: Harry Potter might be the name on every youngster's lips, but have you ever wondered where the teenage superhero got his name from? From the phone book, of course, says his creator J K Rowling. According to The Sun, Rowling, who is all set to release the sixth book in the "Harry Potter" series, confessed that she browsed through the phone book, baby books and war manuals to name her characters and that the much respected professor Dumbeldore's name actually means Bumble Bee in old English. "You name it, I've got names from it! Hedwig was a saint, Dumbledore is an old English word for bumble bee and Snape is a place in England," the report quoted her as saying. But imagination is something she obviously doesn't lack, "I also make up names, the most popular one being Quidditch," she added.

Hugh Jackman voted as most suited to play James Bond (Go To Top)

          London: Who should play the role of the suave double agent James Bond after current James Bond actor, Pierce Brosnan retires from the role next year? People think Hugh Jackman, and Brosnan seems to agree. According to The Daily Mail, Hollywood hunk Hugh Jackman has been voted as the man most suited to don the mantle of James Bond, in a survey conducted by Skymovies.com. The "X-Men" actor piped "Troy" star Orlando Bloom, who was voted as the second favorite. To add icing to the cake, Jackman was also named as the best contender by Pierce Brosnan himself.

          The most popular stars to play the role of the superstar were: 1. Hugh Jackman 2. Orlando Bloom 3. Colin Farrell 4. Clive Owen 5. Robbie Williams 6. Rupert Everett 7. David Beckham 8. Ioan Gruffudd 9. Colin Salmon

Niece blasts Kidman's neurotic portrayal of Virginia Woolf  (Go To Top)

          London: Nicole Kidman might have won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the acclaimed British feminist writer, Virginia Woolf, in The Hours, but Woolf's grand niece thinks the movie paints a diametrically opposite picture of her aunt. Woolf's grand-niece, Virginia Nicolson, said that Kidman had portrayed her aunt as a suicidal tragic, although in reality, she was a fun-loving person with her own eccentric sense of humour. "I do think it was a terrible bit of casting. What worries me is that a generation of cinemagoers will see Virginia Woolf as a neurotic, gloomy, suicide-obsessed femme fatale," The Independent quoted her as saying "To anyone who knew her, she was enormous fun, made everyone laugh and had a crazy sense of humour. Her nieces and nephews didn't sit around mooning over dead birds with her. They had a lot of fun and a lot of laughter. But then, if someone made a film about your family, would you think it was correct? For me it was a travesty," she added.

The Queen personally penned down tribute to Diana (Go To Top)

          London: Her speeches might be usually written by her private secretary or advisers, but when it comes to something as personal as paying homage to late daughter-in-law, the Queen prefers to go solo. According to The Mirror, the Queen insisted on writing a personal tribute to Di in her three-minute speech at the opening of her memorial fountain. "It is very, very personal to her and she is not entrusting anyone else to write it. Diana was her daughter-in-law. She doesn't think anyone else should write it because she sees it as her personal duty," a palace insider was quoted as saying.

Come September and Bollywood will flood Pak legally (Go To Top)

          Lahore: The ice has finally been broken. If Pakistan's Ministry of Culture is to be believed, Bollywood will finally be allowed to march in and provide its popular fare to Pakistan's film-starved masses. According to the Daily Times, Federal Additional Secretary for Culture Zafar Ahmed has reportedly announced that ministry will give the green signal for the screening of Indian movies within three months. "A summary about the screening of Indian films in Pakistan is to be sent to the cabinet within a couple of days with comments from four different ministries," the paper quoted Ahmed as saying on the sidelines of a seminar. Ahmed said the demands of the cinemas owners would be met if they upgraded facilities and security at their theatres, but added that Indian films would be subjected to censorship. Pakistani cinemas have spent years trying to convince the government to allow them to screen Indian movies. They have even threatened to close down their establishments if the government fails to meet this demand.

The Beckhams turn 'Ali Babas' to enter Aladdin's cave (Go To Top)

         London: It seems the Beckhams want to add an African touch to their London mansion, Beckingham Palace, as they recently splurged on African artifacts worth 25,000 pounds in Morocco, where they are currently holidaying. According to The Sun, the couple bought antiques, furniture and carpets from shop called "Aladdin's Cave." They also bought several vases, urns and other traditional trinkets from the shop. The exotic acquisitions are now going to be shipped back to their home in Sawbridgeworth, Herts. "Victoria and David were like two modern-day Ali Babas. I'm sure they would have cleared out the whole store if they could have," the report quoted the storeowner Abdul Khalid, who was invited to dinner by the couple, as saying.

Angelina Jolie offered Cambodian citizenship (Go To Top)

          London: In appreciation of the nature conservation work that Hollywood actress Angelina jolie has been doing in Cambodia, she has been offered a Cambodian citizenship by the country's Prime Minister Hun Sen. According to Ananova, the Oscar winning actress was made the offer during her meeting with the Prime Minister, which was a part of her two-day visit to Cambodia recently. Although nothing has been finalised yet, she said that she would be like take up the offer. Jolie, however, did not reveal the other details of the meeting and has also not commented on what would happen to her American Citizenship if she decides to be a Cambodian citizen. The "Lara Croft" actress, who already has a house in the Southeast Asian country and also has an adopted Cambodian son, Maddox, has donated as much as 1.5 million dollars for the environmental protection efforts in Cambodia. "He did mention giving me Cambodian citizenship, and I would be honored, I think. I would certainly be thrilled. So I'm sure I'll be moving forward to actually receiving that," the report quoted her as saying.

Britney refuses pre-nuptial agreement with Kevin (Go To Top)

          New York: Love they say, is blind, and pop star Britney Spears seems to exemplify this. According to the New York Post, the singer has claimed that she is marrying Kevin Federline only for love, and has declined her parents' advise to get a prenuptial agreement signed from her fianci. Britney has also paid for her own engagement ring that costed her 40,000 dollars as Kevin had no money of his own, the paper adds. Her parents are distraught over their daughter's blind love after her dad's plea for her to ink a pre-nuptial fell on deaf ears. Her parents are worried ,as under the Californian law a marriage without a pre nuptial agreement could enable Federline to claim almost half her fortune, in case they file for a divorce.

16-year old girl to divorce her mother (Go To Top)

         Sydney: Husbands and wives getting divorced is common, but a daughter divorcing her mother is something unheard of. According to a report in the Herald Sun, 16-year old Kaye will be the the first child in New South Wales to legally divorce her mother due to harrowing abuses. The papers for the case are being prepared on the grounds of an "irreconcilable breakdown in the relationship" and the action will reportedly be lodged in the Federal Magistrates Court within a month. Kaye has accused her mother of selling her to a family friend who sexually abused her . After receiving a petty amount for the transaction her mother continued to send her to a number of men for money. "I want it made known what she did to me. She's out there scot- free and I'm just sick and tired of the hurt. I want justice," Kaye was quoted in the report as saying. Despite reporting the matter to police , the Child Protection Enforcement Agency and Department of Community Services no action was taken due to lack of evidence. For Kaye, the divorce courts were the last resort where she could make the authorities hear her plight. The matter came to light when a teacher and a counsellor spoke to Kaye's younger sister.

Man wins 1.3 million dollars from dustbin (Go To Top)

         Sydney: An Australian man won a lottery worth 1.3 million dollars after he retrieved his ticket from the dustbin. He had bought the Tattslotto ticket from Victoria three months ago. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the man had checked the ticket at the airport on his way back home and thought that he had only three of the required numbers. He stuck the ticket on his office computer intending to check it later when he found it missing. He then fished it out from the rubbish before it was emptied. Later relatives checked the ticket number from lottery's head office in Melbourne and found that it was worth $1,357,142.86. The man who is in his thirties was stunned when his relatives called to give him the news. "I can't even remember which shop I got it at. I am not just thinking about how lucky I was to win the money, but also to get the ticket out of the wastepaper basket," he was quoted as saying.