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Backstreet Boys land in Mumbai for sold-out concert amidst scalping rumours

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All roads lead to BKC Jio Gardens tonight as fans of 90s boyband Backstreet Boys prep to watch their teen idols onstage. In their rollercoaster three-decade career, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson have thrilled fans around the world with their impeccable choreography, heavenly harmonies, and over a dozen chart-topping hits.

Due to overwhelming popular demand, they have expanded their massive DNA World Tour to Mumbai and Delhi. This tour is a celebration of the then-boyband’s rich legacy, featuring megawatt hits such as ‘I Want It That Way’, ‘Everybody’ (Backstreet’s Back), ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’ and ‘As Long As You Love Me’, along with the latest offerings from their recent album DNA, including ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Chances’, and ‘No Place’, among others.

The quintet has already landed in Mumbai to a roaring welcome from fans at the airport. Their hotel staff treated BSB to a Bollywood-style dance performance of their hit songs which Nick Carter posted on his Instagram page. In the video, he remarked with an ear-to-ear grin on his face.

“This is the first time I have seen something like this in my entire career.” In the caption, Carter wrote, “What cool surprise arriving at the hotel here in Mumbai India. The hotel staff had a full-out Bollywood-style dance prepared remixing all our songs. I guess we really do have fans all over the world.”

Sold-out shows

There has been a mad scramble for tickets ever since the concert was announced in February 2023. BSB fans are a passionate and mixed bunch. Everyone from the portly neighbourhood housewife with four kids in tow, the suave businessmen in their Armani suits to the navel-baring crop top brigade are followers. So, it’s not surprising that tickets were sold out weeks ago.

Official ticketing partner Bookmyshow’s website had no tickets available across tiers: Everybody Zone (general access for INR 3500 to INR 5000), I Want It That Way (closer to the stage for INR 8000 to INR 10000) and All I Have To Give (VIP passes with lounge access for INR 15000 to INR 20000).

Prices varied according to the subdivision in each tier for Mumbai and Delhi. However, as the concert date inched closer, tickets mysteriously started resurfacing. Suddenly, concertgoers are selling off their tickets via social media since they weren’t going “due to unavoidable circumstances”. Of course, they are selling them at a much higher price than the original cost.

General access tickets are going for VIP prices. The truth behind the matter is hidden in plain sight: scalping.

Trend of scalping

Scalping of concert tickets is when someone buys tickets to a concert or event and then resells them for a higher price. The person who bought the tickets originally is usually a fan who wants to attend the event, but the scalper buys the tickets with the intention of making a profit by reselling them at a higher price.

Scalpers use bots and loopholes on the ticketing site to do this. This is possible because demand for the tickets is often higher than the supply, and scalpers take advantage of this by charging fans more than the original price.

The practice of scalping can be controversial because it often means fans have to pay more than they should.

Wrote Twitter user Piyush: “There is suddenly a surplus of Backstreet Boys tickets for Mumbai:

One ardent fan tweeted: “The millennial in me wants to attend the BackStreet Boys DNA World tour in Mumbai, but ticket bohot mehenga hai. Kuch jugaad hai kya?

The scalping of concert tickets for BSB is a fascinating example of the dynamics of supply and demand. The popularity of the boy band is such that demand for tickets is far outstripping supply, creating a lucrative opportunity for scalpers who are able to obtain tickets through various means.

Scalpers are using sophisticated technology and strategies to capitalize on the imbalance between supply and demand and adjust their selling price accordingly. While some may see scalping as a nefarious practice that takes advantage of fans, it can also be seen as a natural outcome of a market where demand exceeds supply. It’s clear that the practice of scalping can have negative consequences, however, particularly when it creates a sense of unfairness among fans who are unable to obtain tickets at face value.

Surge in streaming

The band has seen close to a 2x surge in daily searches on Spotify in India since the Mumbai and Delhi of their world tour were announced in February.

Spotify playlist- ‘This Is Backstreet Boys’; which includes some of the band’s biggest hits, also witnessed an 88% increase in streams during this period. Released over 20 years ago; ‘I Want It That Way’ continues to be a fan favourite and is the band’s top-streamed track in India since the tour announcement. This is followed by ‘As Long as You Love Me’, ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – Radio Edit’, ‘Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely’, and ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’, which complete the list of the top 5 most streamed Backstreet Boys songs on Spotify in India right now.

New documentary

BSB has also gifted their loyal fans with the first episode of their slick new documentary series, ‘Making Of The DNA Tour’, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse into the preparation for this world tour. Five episodes are out on their Youtube channel. Rick+Tone will be recording more footage for the documentary during the Mumbai and Delhi shows.

Bollywood

Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty’s ‘High-Voltage’ Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

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Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty's 'High-Voltage' Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

Title: Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar and Shweta Tiwari.

Where: In cinemas

Rating: 3 stars

Positioned and postured as a full-blown action entertainer to be enjoyed with your family, Rohit Shetty brings Ajay Devgn’s Bajirao Singham back to narrate the modern day Ramayana, replete with a bunch of B-town stars to do justice to the epic saga that shows the ultimate victory of good over evil. So, right from Sita-haran (Sita’s abduction) to Jatayu’s sacrifice to Lanka-dahan, every chapter must unfold with cinematic liberty and melodrama that must serve justice to every key situation of the epic battle.

And truth be stated, we get the events, and we even cheer for every sequence and subtext that the film mounts to showcase the Ram Vs Ravan battle. Right from the unconditional love of Laxman and Bharat to the ultimate loyalty of Hanuman to Sita’s cruel abduction– every character has a context placement and contemplation to ruminate over. But hang on a sec! Who is Deepika placed as in this tale? She is neither Shabri, Shurpanakha or Mandodri. Her character seems as misfit and misplaced as her poor acting and her wobbly (read: horribly put on and off-putting) accent!

While the rest of the star cast plays to the gallery amidst the ear-splitting background score, Deepika sticks out like a sore thumb as the lady Singham.

At 2 hours and 24 minutes, Shetty unleashes the mega star-power of his film, and how! From Simmba (Ranveer Singh) to Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), everybody jumps in to offer their bit to ensure that the audience remains engaged and entertained. Equally engaging and pleasant are the backdrops against which the makers have set the pieces of the narrative. Every locale is either scenic, handsomely mounted or ‘explosive’ with the trademark sign of Shetty pasted all over.

The story is simple and straight to state the obvious. Bajirao Singham nabs a notorious terrorist (Jackie Shroff) and his arrest triggers another baddie (Arjun Kapoor) to abduct Singham’ wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan). So, what’s the connection between these two events, you may wonder! You will have to watch the film to find out the link, as Shetty gives you a backstory that sets the current tale rolling.

What’s remarkable is how the makers have designed the entry of each character, and how the sequences have been spaced out to do justice to every character that makes their presence felt. Nobody disappears or gets diluted in terms of the presence and storytelling in the name of cinematic liberty. Add to it Ranveer Singh’s over the top hysteria, Akshay Kumar’s reassuring screen-presence and Tiger Shroff’s crisp, but impactful action chops, and you would know how Shetty elevates the film as a sheer entertainer worthy of all the whistles and cheers.

The sequence where Ranveer sets Arjun Kapoor’s territory on fire or when Shetty brings Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) to spice up the already high-voltage drama is incredible!

For a strory where you know how everything is going to unfold and conclude like, Shetty brings his A game to the table to showcase his strength –which is action and comedy–and dare we say, he doesn’t miss a single beat. While some sequences look stretched out beyond their capacities, and some could easily have been edited out, all in all one enjoys this ‘copverse’ studded with bharpoor dialoguebaazi and seemingly never ending ‘action’.

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Bollywood

Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

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Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

After much back and forth, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of his character Chulbul Pandey’s cameo in Rohit Shetty’s “Singham Again” and will be shooting for it amidst tight security.

the superstar will be shooting in a studio, which cannot be named due to security reasons.

The source said: “Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of Chulbul Pandey cameo in “Singham Again” at 4.00 P.M. today at a Mumbai Suburban Studio. The studio name cannot be given due to security reasons.”

The source also shared that the superstar was advised to not shoot at the moment given the security reasons after politician Baba Siddique was gunned down by three assailants.

The source said: “Mumbai Police and officials had advised to not shoot at the moment for security reasons but to fulfill his commitments given to Rohit he has decided to shoot today amidst 120 individual security guards and 30 police officials.”

It was earlier reported that Salman will not be making a special appearance in the Ajay Devgn-starrer “Singham Again” amid security concerns.

The third installment from the “Singham” franchise has a motley of stars. It has Ajay as Bajirao Singham, Ranveer Singh as Simmba, Akshay Kumar as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi, Kareena Kapoor as Bajirao Singham’s wife Avni, Deepika Padukone as police officer Shakti Shetty, Ravi Kishan, Jackie Shroff and Tiger Shroff.

Actor Arjun Kapoor will be seen playing the role of antagonist named Danger Lanka. The film will have a contemporary spin to the “Ramayana” and is slated to be released on Diwali on November 1.

It was on October 12 night, when NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was murdered by three armed men. He was attacked outside son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra area.

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‘Aur Kitna Overacting…’: Sunny Deol Unveils Intense FIRST Look Poster Of Jatt, Leaves Netizens Disappointed

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'Aur Kitna Overacting...': Sunny Deol Unveils Intense FIRST Look Poster Of Jatt, Leaves Netizens Disappointed

Bollywood star Sunny Deol’s upcoming action movie with filmmaker Gopichand Malineni has been titled Jaat. Touted as a film with high-octane drama and larger-than-life action sequences, Jaat is produced by Mythri Movie Makers and People Media Factory, the makers said in a statement.

Sunny Deol, whose last film Gadar 2 became a huge blockbuster, shared a poster of the new movie on his social media handles.

“Introducing the man with a national permit for MASSIVE ACTION. @iamsunnydeol in and as #JAAT #SDGM is #JAAT… MASS FEAST LOADING,” the 67-year-old actor wrote on Instagram.

Netizens Reacts

As soon as Sunny shared the post on social media, media netizens reacted to his latest poster. While some appreciated it and compared it to Marvel, the other trolled the actor for his look and the poster. One of the user wrote, “Pehle laga Marvel ka koi naya movie hai.”

Another user wrote, “Half boyfriend chahiye.”

The third user commented, “No hate to Sunny Deol but bilkul faltu poster ha.”

“Aur kitna overacting karega ye buddha”, the comment reads.

Malineni is best known for directing Telugu action films such as Don Seenu, Bodyguard, Balupu, and Veera Simha Reddy.

Jaat will also feature Randeep Hooda, Vineet Kumar Singh, Saiyami Kher and Regina Cassandra in pivotal roles. Ace composer Thaman S has provided music for the film.

The film is produced by Naveen Yerneni and Y Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers, alongside TG Vishwa Prasad of People Media Factory.

The music of the film is composed by Thaman S and cinematography by Rishi Punjabi, Naveen Nooli is the Editor, and Avinash Kolla is the production designer. Peter Hein, Anl Arasu, Ram Laxman, and Venkat are the action choreographers.

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