The POTTERmania…
4:36 PM
JITIN
,
Its Friday, the 13th ( October 13, 1307): When officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests in a well-coordinated dawn raid that left several thousand Templars in chains, charged with crimes that were never proven. Hence from time immemorial, Friday, the 13th has been perceived as a day of special misfortune.
Its again Friday, the 13th ( July 13, 2007): When the witchcraft and wizards of Hogwarts school will take over the whole world, yet again. The Boy-Who-Lived ‘Harry Potter’ , the Miss-Know-It-All ‘Hermione Granger’ & the red-headed, adorably awkward ‘Ron Weasley’ would, for the umpteenth time, fight against Malfoy and other evil forces of Lord Voldemort/Tom Riddle. So as “Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix” releases worldwide on Friday, the 13th, the POTTERmania is all set to rock us again…
And this is just the start of things to come, because just after the fifth flick in this hugely popular series is cinematically acclaimed, only days afterwards, i.e, on July 21, J K Rowling’s last book hits every remote bookstore possible all over the world. The Potterati is indeed buzzing!!!
So while you are sleeping on July 21, 2007 at 6 am (IST), a whole generation of Potter fans: boys & girls, young & old, rich & poor would be queuing up with bated breath to receive that one precious copy of ‘The Book’, named, “The Deathly Hallows”…
The penultimate book: “The Half-Blood Prince” sold an unbelievable 1,60,000 copies in India alone. This one is expected to go one step ahead, the prediction stands at a whooping 2,50,000 copies!!! & one thought that Indians don’t like reading a lot???
Infact, the ‘Harry effect’ is E V E R Y W H E R E…
You name it and Potter would be there. Be it the cyberspace or online gaming or cartoon strips or television shows or as you can see blogs too, the list is endless. The chances are that until and unless you live in a remote forest of Africa, the POTTERmania would strike you sooner than later, whether you like it or not. The choice remarkably is not yours when the case in study is Harry Potter & his world or a world of hundreds of thousands of Potter fans may I say now…
Its hard to imagine life post Potter-era??? What after its all over, never to return again???
The thought is just too horrible to contemplate, even more so than Lord Voldemort and his evil forces, so I would leave it for some other day… And rightly so, because today Friday, the 13th is a day to celebrate POTTERmania and nothing else.
So as we all Harry fans gear up, ready to get Potterized again, I leave you with this humorous conversation that I read in TOI (incidentally taken from a blogger in pune),
Welcome to Ekta Kapoor’s version of Harry to reproduce the Potter tale in K-serial mode.
Voldy (Lord Voldemort) goes to Gorric Hollow to meet Harry’s parents,
James (Harry’s father): “Voldy tum, bad-tameez! Itne bade jaadugar ho aur doorknob turn karna nahi aata!”
PHAAT (a slap)!
Voldy: “James, main tumse nahin tumhari biwi se milne aaya hoon. Aaj hum faisla karenge ki Harry kiska Puttar hai!”
Now this is what i meant by being Potterized…
Its again Friday, the 13th ( July 13, 2007): When the witchcraft and wizards of Hogwarts school will take over the whole world, yet again. The Boy-Who-Lived ‘Harry Potter’ , the Miss-Know-It-All ‘Hermione Granger’ & the red-headed, adorably awkward ‘Ron Weasley’ would, for the umpteenth time, fight against Malfoy and other evil forces of Lord Voldemort/Tom Riddle. So as “Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix” releases worldwide on Friday, the 13th, the POTTERmania is all set to rock us again…
And this is just the start of things to come, because just after the fifth flick in this hugely popular series is cinematically acclaimed, only days afterwards, i.e, on July 21, J K Rowling’s last book hits every remote bookstore possible all over the world. The Potterati is indeed buzzing!!!
So while you are sleeping on July 21, 2007 at 6 am (IST), a whole generation of Potter fans: boys & girls, young & old, rich & poor would be queuing up with bated breath to receive that one precious copy of ‘The Book’, named, “The Deathly Hallows”…
The penultimate book: “The Half-Blood Prince” sold an unbelievable 1,60,000 copies in India alone. This one is expected to go one step ahead, the prediction stands at a whooping 2,50,000 copies!!! & one thought that Indians don’t like reading a lot???
Infact, the ‘Harry effect’ is E V E R Y W H E R E…
You name it and Potter would be there. Be it the cyberspace or online gaming or cartoon strips or television shows or as you can see blogs too, the list is endless. The chances are that until and unless you live in a remote forest of Africa, the POTTERmania would strike you sooner than later, whether you like it or not. The choice remarkably is not yours when the case in study is Harry Potter & his world or a world of hundreds of thousands of Potter fans may I say now…
Its hard to imagine life post Potter-era??? What after its all over, never to return again???
The thought is just too horrible to contemplate, even more so than Lord Voldemort and his evil forces, so I would leave it for some other day… And rightly so, because today Friday, the 13th is a day to celebrate POTTERmania and nothing else.
So as we all Harry fans gear up, ready to get Potterized again, I leave you with this humorous conversation that I read in TOI (incidentally taken from a blogger in pune),
Welcome to Ekta Kapoor’s version of Harry to reproduce the Potter tale in K-serial mode.
Voldy (Lord Voldemort) goes to Gorric Hollow to meet Harry’s parents,
James (Harry’s father): “Voldy tum, bad-tameez! Itne bade jaadugar ho aur doorknob turn karna nahi aata!”
PHAAT (a slap)!
Voldy: “James, main tumse nahin tumhari biwi se milne aaya hoon. Aaj hum faisla karenge ki Harry kiska Puttar hai!”
Now this is what i meant by being Potterized…
YT was here!!
Your timings couldnt have been more apt!! I saw the flick today and can safely vouch for all that you've written in your post. Potter is big, larger-than-life and the most captivating thing that has happened to the writer's sphere n movie-goers space alike in recent times.
For other's good... the movie was pure exhilaration. It was pacey, well directed and turned out to be just like i'd pictured it to be after reading the book. Though the ending might prove to be a lil confusing for someone who hasnt read the books or not followed the series religiously, it would still give you your money's worth.
Jitin, perfect timings n a post well-written. Although your last excerpt from the TOI hurt like hell :( You could have conveniently left that out n saved us the pain of having to sify thru it :((
gud one.......
end was nt at all funny ;)
anyways gud work.......dats all i cn say....bcz i hvnt read any potter book and hvnt seen any potter movie........may b dis potter mania will hit me soon....;)
Didn't know u were a potter fan too! Watched the movie today, and i hate to admit it, but it was a wee bit disappointing. They changed a LOT of things from the book, and though i normally love changes (Prisoner of Azkaban remains my favourite movie in the series, and one of my fav movies of all time), the changes in Ootp seemed forced and unnecessary. The acting of the Trio, particularly from Radcliffe, has actually gotten worse, and they ruin many of the scenes which required intense emotions and powerful dialogue delivery. All said and done, however, a Potter flick is a Potter flick, and so I'm pretty sure i'm going to end up spending another 150 rupees on watching it once again. CAN'T wait for 21st July though - JKR, unlike the Potter directors, knows the art of not disappointing her fans!
hey i heard news channel sayin that " the world is divided into two.... One who knows harry Potter and the others who want to know about him...."
and they are absolutely right .. i guess..lookin around the Pottermania around... ur blog was gud especially the mystery behind the friday 13...
it was interesting 2 see , how u started with Friday, the 13th , King philip .. thing..
good article.. vaise , kaisi lagi movie??
Well written. Very very neat and well thought.
Beyond that i cannot say anything.
Because i am someone who does not follow the series at all :|And so far have been successful in ignoring him ;)
Pottermania has already engulfed the world. And another wave of uprising waiting to be on hit on July 21st.Moreover,there have been communities Saving HP on orkut....
No doubt somebody already mentioned it that Harry da Puttar's a larger than life image....
Well written :)
Hope to c ur review on the movie....
@ yashika
thanx a lot for ur appreciation. Well i have seen the movie myself now & it indeed lives up to all the hype! I do agree with you that its the most captivating thing to happen in recent times, though i am not an avid reader of potter series but i have seen all movies & that too many times! About that last conversation, it seems almost all of u here r voicing the same opinion. That came as a surprise to me as i thought it was quite an ingenious mockery of K-series.
Anywaz it was great to see YT finally here :-)
Keep visiting...
@ ajaypal
well many people seems to agree with you on that last part. Anywaz thanx for ur praise. Its unbeleivable to hear that u hv neither read nor seen potter..!!!
But rest assure that this 'pottermania' wld very soon take over you too...
keep visiting :-)
@ mudit
hey i m really impressed by that quote... its really gud & very true as well... thanx again... actually i m really interested in the history of Friday,the 13th..!!!
keep visiting :-)
@ sidharth
thanx... well i m really fond of all that history actually..!!
movie was fantabolous sid :-)
A MUST SEE FOR ALL...
@ musab
ya i m a potter fan for sure but hv only seen his movies, not read a book though & now i get a feeling that i m really missing something :-( so cant compare both books & movies at all... but i really liked the flick, infact i hv enjoyed all of them..!!! on radcliffe's acting: i kind of agree with u, it was not very gud! But all said & done, its worth another watch anytime!
& ya the P-day is fast approaching to unravel the mystery of 'Who will die???'
Happy reading buddy :-)
@ arunabh
Coming from mr. blogger, i m really thrilled by those impressive comments! thanx buddy...
but i m surprised that u dont follow the potter-nomics..!!!
but i m sure u wld not be able to stay away from pottermania for long ;-)
@ shuchita
thanx... ya ur very right that pottermania has engulfed the whole world..!!! its everywhere with that larger than life image...
well i hv also seen the movie now & it indeed lives upto all the hype generated... it keeps u glued to the silver screen throughout!
A MUST SEE FOR ALL...
& now lets see what happens on the P-day (21st July)..!!
keep visiting :-)