Teens Gush Over ‘Single’ Harry Potter Star

Posted by Sinlung
Along with the world, The Half-Blood Prince releases simultaneously in Guwahati for the first time
Potter fans wait for the first-day-first-show tickets near the counter of Anuradha Cinema in Guwahati on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Guwahati, July 17 : Sixteen-year-old Ruseeka Sarma unabashedly admits that she won’t mind being Daniel Radcliffe’s girlfriend. And the young actor’s recent admission that he has no girlfriend has only made Ruseeka’s dreams more vivid.
No wonder, Ruseeka was among a group of giggly teenagers — all friends — who were among the audience watching the first-day-first-show of Radcliffle’s latest film, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince at a city mall this afternoon.
The sixth film of the phenomenal Harry Potter series opened in the city, creating the same kind of the excitement expected of any film based on J.K. Rowling’s popular book. This is the first time a Potter film has been released in the Northeast on the same day as its release worldwide.
As the end credits started rolling, Ruseeka came out starry-eyed after watching her favourite hero in action. “He is so cute,” she gushed and added that the first blush of romance in a Potter film has made the movie all the more watchable.
In the Northeast, the film released in two theatres, Cinemax and Anuradha, in digital format. Though the start was sluggish in the first show in terms of footfall, the crowd swelled in the afternoon as more and more Potter fans trooped into the halls to see the bespectacled hero fight evil in a magical world of witches and wizards.
Bhaskarjyoti Gogoi, also a student, said he had read every book of the series and also watched all the previous five Harry Potter movies. “I am hooked on Harry Potter and it is a dream come true to watch the movie on the first day of its worldwide release,” he said.
“I am sure all Potter fans like me are delighted by the simultaneous release of the film in Guwahati. Earlier, we had to wait for almost five or six months to watch a Potter movie. By then, the excitement is all gone,” he said.
The first Potter book — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — was released in 1997 and since then more than 450 million copies have been sold.
A spokesperson for Cinemax said inquiries had been received from Potter fans in Shillong too for block bookings. “The new digital technology allows films to be released virtually everywhere in the world. Since it is a Harry Potter film, we decided to bring it to Guwahati for the fans,” he added.
The Half-Blood Prince, produced by Warner Bros, has been made at a cost of about $400 million. For Potter films, this one holds significance since only two more films will be made, slated to be released in November 2010 and July 2011.