13-year-old Kansan wins National Spelling Bee

WASHINGTON - Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to "Laodicean" to become the nation's spelling champion.

The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe, Kan., outlasted 11 finalists Thursday night to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, taking home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and, of course, the huge champion's trophy.

After spelling the winning word, which means lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics, Kavya got huge hugs from her father, mother and little sister.

French Producer Wants To Cast The Bachchans

As Abhishek Bachchan is at Cannes accompanying wife Aishwarya Rai, seems like have impressed the filmmakers out there and receiving film offers. Manuel de la Roche, the Paris based producer wants to cast father-son Bollywood duo Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan for his next film.

French director Jan Kounen will direct the film, which is named as The Secret History of the Dalai Lamas. The director will soon approach the Bachchans with the acting offers for the film in lead roles.

Roche said, “The film will trace the history of the Dalai Lamas all the way from 14th century. It will blend dramatized re-enactments involving the earlier incarnations with excerpts from an interviews with the current Dalai Lama.”

Other than these Bollywood actors, the film will also cast Hollywood biggies Sharon Stone and Richard Gere.

“We are very keen to cast the father and son duo in key roles in the film. Sharon Stone (who is a practicing Tibetan Buddhist) will step in as the narrator, while Hollywood star Richard Gere will also be involved with the project,” added the producer.

Shooting for the film start later this year and will be shot mainly in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and some other parts of Indian subcontinent. It will be ready to hit theaters in the second half of 2010.

The father son duo had earlier worked together for films Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Sarkar Raj. However will soon appear together in R. Balakrishnan’s Pa

Not Same To Same

Anushka Sharma

Just a one film old, actress Anushka Sharma is making a buzz in Bollywood. This time she is in news for his comparison with Sonam Kapoor. Both of them are constantly being compared with each other. However, Anushka says, “I know they have been talking about it, but nobody has asked me this question directly. May be they are scared to ask!”

She later adds, “I don’t think I look like Sonam. She has very different features.”

But do you remember how Sonam looks like. Because it’s always surprising as Sonam changes her look with each photoshoot.

Anushka Sharma Is Not Like Other Actresses

Anushka Sharma

The new girl of SRK is finally out in public and is sharing her views and opinions openly. Ask her about her contemporaries and she will say, “Asin is so beautiful, Sonam Kapoor is enthralling, and Deepika Padukone is very talented. My all-time favorite is Rani Mukherji. She’s a class apart.”

Anushka also revealed that Rani had helped and encouraged her a lot when she was shooting for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Well who else will know better than Rani the Yash Raj style of filming?

Aamir Khan apologizes Shah Rukh for Blog post

Aamir Khan on Tuesday ‘offered sincere apology’ for posting on his blog that he had named his pet dog after the actor Shah Rukh Khan. The apology for this comes nearly after 10 days of his blog entry.

“Shah Rukh is a dear friend of mine and I have highest respect and regard for him. That blog was in good humour and a lot of people found it funny. However, some did not. Many felt I shouldn’t have said that. So my sincere apologies to people who were uncomfortable with that part,” Aamir wrote

Shah Rukh is a dear friend of mine and I have highest respect and regard for him. That blog was in good humour and a lot of people found it funny. However, some did not. Many felt I shouldn’t have said that. So my sincere apologies to people who were uncomfortable with that part,” Aamir wrote.

aamirkhan.com till date has an entry of 13th May saying ‘Shahrukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then’. The entry has neither been removed nor is there any apology on the site till date.

Anushka Sharma Bound to Yash Raj Films for Two More Films

Anushka Sharma

After Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Anushka Sharma is bound to Yash Raj Films for two more films. However YRF is in no hurry to start the next films.

Before the release of the film, she was kept under wraps, while some think that even after the release of the film she is still under wraps as she has a contract to do two more films with Yash Raj.

Anushka said, “Yes, I’m under contract to do two more films with Yash Raj.”

“I was kept away from the media’s glare for a reason. I wanted to focus completely on my film. And it served the purpose,” says Anushka.

When asked to her why she didn’t presented with the finesse and sophistication that is associated with the banner, she replied, “You are right. Even when girls are supposed to be simple, in a Yash Raj film she’s always glamorous. But you see, I can always get into chiffon saris in my next Yash Raj film.”

Although, Anushka seems excited about her next film, the feeling doesn’t seem

Karan To Rename His Film Jehaad

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor

The film which is based on the global terrorism topic was till now supposed to be titled as Jehaad as the actors of the film Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan were calling in their interviews. But it was never the official title. The producer Karan Johar and director Rensil D’Silva has become cautious about calling it as Jehaad, so planning to change it as Qurbaan.

As the global market is looking at the film with curiosity and suspicion, Karan doesn’t want to give any wrong signal by naming it as Jehaad. Jehaad is an Islamic term for Holy War, so the makers of the film don’t want to sound it in the favour of Islamic terrorism and put off the interest of global audience.

One source revealed, “As soon as the title Qurbaan is made official, Karan and Rensil plan to call a press conference to correct the media perception that the film is called Jehaad. Since Kareena and Saif used Jehaad in all their interviews, it will take some time for Jehaad to get out of the public’s mind. They have made a gripping thriller on terrorism. The narration is taut and uninterrupted by Bollywood formulae like songs, dances and melodrama. Kareena and Saif have even done one of the boldest love sequences ever.”

When asked to Rensil, he confirmed it and said, “We did consider it but it is unlikely that we will call the film Jehaad. Karan and I need to sit down and talk about it, but he has gone off to Cannes.”

Karan refused to comment on it and went off to Cannes. Karan represents an alcohol brand at Cannes. He will be walking the red carpet all alone. “That’s the status of my life- single. And that is how it shall be at Cannes, or anywhere else,” said Karan.