Potterheads, take note: Alia Bhatt joins Daniel Radcliffe, Eddie Redmayne on Wizarding World to read Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone
After Hollywood stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne read out a chapter from JK Rowling’s popular Harry Potter book series, actress Alia Bhatt has ushered the trend into Bollywood.
The words from J.K. Rowling’s magical world have magicked their way into our hearts and how! The 7-part Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling’s most famous work to date, has been touted to be a children’s books. However, it is wrong to assume that one of the most-loved authors in the world today, wrote only for children. A large part of the content in the Potter books is layered and dark - something you would probably understand through empathy, personal experiences or learnings from around you.
The books, followed by the movies, have marked a cultural phenomenon, and Potterheads who’ve pretty much grown up reading the books have a lot to owe to the material, from flights of fancy, giving wings to imagination, and also for enhancing our vocabulary in many ways.
As part of the Harry Potter at Home initiative, popular names such as Daniel Radcliffe, Noma Dumezweni, Eddie Redmayne, Stephen Fry, Simon Callow, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Jamie Parker and Oscar-winning actor Olivia Colman have been roped in to read the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, streaming on Spotify and Spotify Kids (exclusively available to Premium Family subscribers in select markets), for an audio-only experience for fans across ages. Each chapter is accompanied by a Chapter Challenge, where readers can earn house points as part of a secret quest. Videos of those recordings are solely being hosted on Wizarding World.
As a special addition to the virtual initiative, Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt is a part of the latest chapter (Chapter Eight) of this riddikulus-ly cool podcast. Joining Alia in the episode is a unique cameo by two rather special guests, Alec Baldwin and his daughter Carmen, also an avid Potterhead. This episode introduces listeners to Professor Snape, the Potions teacher who has his reasons for not liking Harry Potter at all, the heartbreaking truth being revealed at fag-end of the stories. All HP fans would agree how this revelation is ‘always’ heart-wrenching.
Alia took to Instagram and shared a photograph where she is seen reading the Harry Potter adventure, which she captioned: “Magic is all around us, we just have to feel it... or read it!! Coming VERY soon.”
Alia also shared a video of herself reading a few lines from chapter eight of the book. The video was titled “Harry Potter At Home. Chapter Eight With Alia Bhatt and Alec Baldwin.”
The actor captioned the video: “Two months ago Harry, Hogwarts, and the wizarding world walked into my life and almost immediately, in my heart. Somehow, when I was younger life always intervened and I never quite got around to befriending the books. But. Just like magic, two months ago, I did. And, just like magic, I was asked to be a part of Harry Potter at Home. 10 million points to Gryffindor! “
The much-loved author of the books, J.K. Rowling also made a surprise announcement for fans recently of a new book named The Ickabog, which she will be publishing for free on her website. The author has released upto chapter 10 today and has been interacting with her fans and followers on her official Twitter handle where she’s also retweeting sketches of Ickabog sent to her.
According to bbc.com, The Ickabog is Rowling’s first children’s story not associated with Harry Potter. She wrote it over a decade ago for her children and has now dusted it off. The author said it’s for “children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times”, the website added.
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