Zac Efron Engaged?

In a recent surge of events, media reports are rife with the speculation that teenage sensation Zac Efron has been engaged to his long time girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens. The High School Musical star has neither confirmed nor denied these reports, which has sparked a frenzy of sorts amongst millions of his female fans.

Efron and Hudgens at the HSM:3 Premiere

Though he has made no bones about his love for Hudgens, his co-star from HSM series, he has also, in the same breath, confessed to having a commitment-phobia regarding all of his romantic liaisons. The 21 year old star has emphasised that his current priority was his career and that he was looking forward to doing something dissimilar from the de-rigoure song-and-dance routines he has so successfully done in the entire HSM series.

Fans of Efron would now get to see him in a Disney-produced sitcom ’17 AGAIN’, where he’ll be playing the role of a 37-year old loser who somehow turns 17 again and gets back to his purple days…

Reverting back to the Efron-Hudgens story, this is not first time that insider reports have initiated such baseless rumours. Similar reports were published a few years back when the second of HSM movies were releasing. Dismissed in not-so-soft-terms back then, the couple had laughed off the matter citing it would be too immature on their part to contemplate an issue of this proportion without giving any consideration to their thriving careers.

Other than the whole now-engaged-now-not episode, the two has been making waves with their antics off-screen as well. While Efron has recently shot for Interview magazine’s April edition with a nude Australian model, La Hudgen, too, found herself flanked by controversy when some expletive shots of her earlier days were leaked on the internet… Looks like the two are already making up for a saucy couple. Let’s just keep the rumour mills alive… Cheers to the next Power-Couple of Hollywood.

Quaint Quentin shuts Cowell up, livens up Idol proceedings!

And Cowell is bogged down,,, finally!!!!

Keeping in sync with its tradition of getting A-list celebrities to be judges and mentors, American Idol managed a major draw when it got Hollywood’s very own king of chutzpah, Quentin Tarantino, on board.

QUENTIN TARANTINO

A self-confessed A.I. fan, Tarantino has appeared on the show four seasons back. However, this time around he is believed to be more of a ‘guide’ to the contestants rather than judging them. Though viewers might enjoy a battle of wits between the Pulp Fiction director and the much loved and hated Simon Cowell, insider reports are abuzz with news of some other major highlights…

For instance, it is being speculated that this may be the last of what we see of Lil Round, with all major betting sites offering excellent odds against her ousting from the show. A group performance of all the seven finalists is also scheduled tonight with a special rendition of Bryan Adams’ all-time hit ‘Everything I do’ by Anoop Desai.

As has always been the case with all reality shows in its genre, an unexpected twist is anticipated towards the end. (I personally won’t mind Tarantino breaking into an impromptu dance sequence.) Perhaps, this move on the show’s part may help revive the dwindling fortunes of the show (as suggested by the latest TRP ratings), largely because the Cowell-effect is dying a slow death and the rest of them have hardly anything substantial. So, in all probability, we will see a whole lot of celebrities thronging the Idol in a bid to boost the TRPs and reclaim the position it once commanded on the smallscreen. Who knows, we may even see The President himself being present to crown the next Idol. Till then, let’s just hope that Ryan Seacrest has some smart tricks up his sleeve to keep the fun part alive…

MAYAWATI- …… The real ‘Bahubali’ of the General Elections.

With the elections just round a corner, the political mayhem in the country has, indeed, reached its zenith. An integral aspect of the forthcoming elections is definitely gonna be the rise of BSP and its matriarch Mayawati in the near future as a force to be reckoned with. The BSP supremo has taken over the mantle of being the most influential woman politician from the likes of Sonia Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, single-handedly steering her party to an unprecedented victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections and ousting Mulayam Singh Yadav and other leaders of such high stature. Commanding a tremendous hold over the minority section in terms of both popularity and likeability, the Uttar Pradesh CM is sure to make some serious dents on the Congress votebank in the upcoming polls. Being someone who has always been limelight for one reason or the other, the BSP scion has come a long way to command a status of pure dominance in the political clout of eastern India and exercises absolute control over her state in which development has been evident from the day she was sworn in. Although, political veterans have often ridiculed her mannerisms, she has stood forthright, ambling meticulously towards her goals and achieving them with ease. Some may dismiss this successful phase in her political life as a flash-in-the-pan, but others argue she’s definitely here to stay. Sources close to her swear by her dedication to work, her concern for her people and her willingness to stand up for their causes and concerns. So does this mean, someday, we may actually see her as a worthy occupant of 7, Racecourse Road. And if that day comes, it would mark the birth of a new era in Indian Politics… The era of the underdog.

Another interesting feature of these elections would definitely be the role of small but key players in the whole coalition scenario. What with ever-switching loyalties and support withdrawal at the drop of a hat, this year’s Elections promise the same fireworks as always. Watch this space for the next wave……

royal aplomb