YeinJee's Asian Journal

Warner Bros has filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based Mirchi Movies related to the title of its upcoming movie “Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors”, which Warners feels is a bit too similar to its “Harry Potter” franchise [more on THR]

Hari is a popular Indian name while Puttar means son in the Punjabi language. It’s said that the storyline doesn’t relate to Harry Potter at all… and judging from the poster alone, I would have ruled that Mirchi is the winner for the lawsuit.

However, I can’t deny the probability that the Indian movie maker is being opportunistic for publicity, which they managed to get it now regardless of whether it was intentional at the first place.

The third season of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) is set to premier on September 11, 2008 on AXN Asia. The franchisee of the popular US reality show is gaining popularity among Asians since making their debut in late 2006 and is back for good.

Hardcore Amazing Race fans might not like TARA for the fact that they are overusing celebrity participants to boost the ratings, as some fans felt that reality shows are meant for ‘real’ people.

Regardless, the strategy seems to be working well for AXN. The likes of Thai actress Paula Taylor and Pinoy model Marc Nelson seemed to gain lots of interest for the race in season two… and it’s not surprising to see that TARA3 is loaded with celebs’ participants yet again.

Among the notable celebrities are Malaysian TV hostess Bernie Chan and actress-producer Ida Nerina, Australian-Filipino model Geoff Rodriguez and Russian-Canadian Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova who run for the Thais (her husband is famous Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan) etc.

The fun part for me about TARA is the variety of people from different nations. The ‘usual suspects’ are from Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

A Korean pair is joining the race for the first time in TARA history… gone were the Indonesian, Japanese and Australian team, which I hope they will be back again next season.

Allan Wu again the host. Hoping for a good race and entertaining show.

MTV Asia Awards (MAA) 2008 is coming to Malaysia.

MAA, one of the most popular pop events in Asia, is making its debut in Malaysia. The show will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting City of Entertainment, Malaysia, on August 2, and will be hosted by Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars.

There will be nine regional favourite artist awards and seven international awards to be presented. Among the nominees are Avril Lavigne & Justin Timberlake & Leona Lewis (International), Chris Li (China), Andy Lau & Eason Chan & Joey Yung (Hong Kong), Big Bang & Suju & Wondergirls (Korea), Nic Teo & Siti Nurhaliza (Malaysia), Stefanie Sun (Singapore), Jolin Tsai & S.H.E (Taiwan) etc.

As far as I know, none of the celebrities have confirmed their attendance yet, but judging from the past experiences, most of the winners were pretty supportive of the show… it’s one of the largest of its kind in Asia after all.

It’s not easy to get a ticket though; it’s something that money can’t buy. The fans have to get the tickets via contests by voting for their favourite artists [details]… the fans need some luck obviously.

Karen Mok is going to co-host the event with Jared Leto. Electrico, Jabbawockeez, Leona Lewis, Li Yuchun, OneRepublic, Panic at the Disco, Pussycat Dolls, Super Junior, Stefanie Sun, The Click Five and The Script have confirmed their appearances.

Update - the winners.