Spouse spice

Here’s a man who’s proud of his wife’s success. And he has good reason to bask in the glory of Jism 2 — the new thriller from the Bhatt stable. Sunny Leone’s husband Daniel Weber, currently managing her company in the US which makes adult films, is happy not just for his wife but also because he is getting offers from Bollywood. Producers are apparently trying to outdo each other in signing up both husband and wife together. Like his wife, Weber — who is as heavily tattooed as Ms Leone is stacked — worked in the adult film industry. And together they plan to sizzle some more.

 

Book bond

Now that Harry and his scar have taken a bow, what’s left for kids (and a whole lot of adults) to read? Fret not, the woman who handled the entire Harry Potter series has a solution in hand. Sarah Odedina, involved with children’s books since 1988, has now launched Hot Key Books for young adults. Having worked with Bloomsbury for 14 years (she was the group editor-in-chief when the Potter books were published), Odedina now promises to bring out more original voices for young readers. “All over the world, the children’s market is a great source of revenue. If you tap them at a young age you have guaranteed adult readers,” says Odedina, who was in India recently. “I am looking at India too, reading a lot of children’s publications here and am open to having a few Indian authors on my list.” Hot Key Books, to be represented by Penguin India in the Indian sub-continent, has already rolled out four titles for this month. But Odedina has a tough task ahead of her. At a time when the children’s market overlaps with the adult one — as Harry Potter and the Twilight series demonstrate — it’s not easy to draw a line between the young and the not-so-young. Hot Key Books, which focuses on fantasy, humour, sci-fi and history, are aimed at those between 9 and 19, “The challenge is to identify what a 9-year-old would like to read which could be so different from what a 12-year-old demands,” she says. But perhaps the new books will do what Harry did — bring disparate groups together.

Lolo’s love

It’s not meant to raise a stink. On the contrary, Karisma Kapoor’s endorsement of a room freshener is expected to make hordes throng shops to buy that particular brand. But Lolo’s fans are wondering where she is going to go from there. Though her comeback venture Dangerous Ishq sank without a trace, it didn’t seem to affect her brand value. She endorsed cornflakes, baby products, almonds and hair colours — and is now holding forth on the household fragrance product. Does that mean she’s taking a break to smell the roses?

Gee, it’s Lee

The smile never left Brett Lee’s face when he was hurling bouncers at batsmen or crooning with Asha Bhonsle. He is still smiling — but now with another job. The former Australian bowler has been employed by Tourism Australia to attract more and more Indian visitors. As part of a programme called Friend of Australia, he was recently seen welcoming India’s leading travel agents in Melbourne with a personalised tour of the city. Lee also regaled them with his exploits around the world including, of course, his stint in the Indian Premier League. With more than 1.5 lakh tourists from India visiting Australia last year, its tourism department is keen to embrace more visitors. And Lee’s smile is expected to wield magic.