Entertainment

Bots — automated programs that can perform tasks online exponentially faster than us poor meatbags — have been a plague on the concert ticket-buying public for decades now. A single bot can buy a thousand or more tickets in less than 60 seconds. There are examples of a couple of bots hoovering up 15,000 tickets in a single day. When a hot show goes on sale, it’s estimated that at least 40 per cent of the traffic to the ticketing site is bots. In some cases, that number has been as high as 96 per cent. Thousands of these things are online, elbowing you out of the queue, snapping up tickets and then immediately sending them to reseller sites with huge mark-ups. They can scoop up “limit four tickets per person” in less time than it takes you to enter your credit card information. Stor...

Actor Rahul Dev finds it “interesting” to start 2025 on a high note with the release of his intense thriller web-series “Griha Laxmi.” Rahul said: "I had a great experience working on this project and it`s interesting to start 2025 on a high with this web series release.” “The date is 16th January for `Griha Laxmi` on EPIC ON. Great cast and great team and I had a blast of an experience working in this one. I hope the audience enjoys watching me in this avatar and continue to shower me with love." Born in New Delhi, Rahul Dev and his actor brother Mukul Dev are sons of Hari Dev who was an Assistant Commissioner of Police. The 56-year-old actor made his acting debut in 2000 with “Champion” starring Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala. In the film, Rahul played an antagonist. He also appeared...

Sam Moore, the surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave that was known for such definitive hits of the era as Soul Man and ‘Hold On, I’m Comin,’ has died. He was 89. Publicist Jeremy Westby said Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery. No additional details were immediately available.Moore, whose admirers ranged from Al Green to Bruce Springsteen, was inducted with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.At the Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records, Moore and Prater ranked only behind Otis Redding as the label’s biggest stars. They transformed the “call and response” of gospel music into a frenzied stage show and recorded some of soul music’s most enduring hits, which also included You Don...

Nawazuddin Siddiqui returns as Inspector Jatil Yadav to investigate another gruelling case in the sequel of Raat Akeli Hai. The Netflix film, directed by Honey Trehan, will kick off from where it started. The first schedule began on January 9 in Delhi. The second edition will bring back four principal characters, including Radhika Apte, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Ila Arun. Raat Akeli Hai followed the journey of a small-town cop who is asked to investigate the death of a local politician. The film received critical acclaim for its direction while Siddiqui won awards for his performance as a quirky cop. “The sequel will be a fresh crime story. The only connection from Raat Akeli Hai is Radhika [who plays Radha, his paramour], Tigmanshu as senior SP Lalji Shukla IPS and Ila Arun [as Sarita Kumari,...

Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of disgraced mommy blogger and convicted child abuser Ruby Franke, is opening up about the child abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother. Shari Franke’s memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, was released Tuesday by Simon & Schuster, revealing more about the horrific abuse she suffered from what she describes as a “malignant narcissist.” Story continues below advertisement As she does the press rounds for her book, Shari has shared whether she could ever forgive her mom.“Forgiveness is something I’ve had to study a lot and kind of think about what it means,” she told Good Morning America (GMA) earlier this week. “But for me, forgiveness would look like not letting that consume every moment of...

With each new work, Vikramaditya Motwane seeks to explore a new world. After serving viewers with the cybercrime thriller CTRL, fronted by Ananya Panday,  Motwane takes audiences inside the Tihar Jail to narrate the story of an unlikely jailer in yesterday’s Netflix release, Black Warrant. The co-creator, co-writer, and co-director of the show starring Zahan Kapoor, Motwane brings for fans of prison dramas a screen adaptation of the book, Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, by journalist Sunetra Choudhury and former superintendent at Tihar Jail, Sunil Gupta.  “It’s a riveting book and tells you something that you have no information about. It was interesting because no one has ever [considered a] jailer’s perspective. All the stuff we have seen about prisons is from movies [alon...

Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie Rust. The lawsuit was filed Thursday at state district court in Santa Fe, where a judge in July dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.Baldwin also alleges defamation in the suit, saying that prosecutors and investigators intentionally mishandled evidence as they pursued the case.Defendants named in the lawsuit include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, along with three investigators from the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office and the county board of commissioners.“Defendants sought at every turn to...

The screening of Vikramaditya Motwane`s upcoming release, `Black Warrant`, took place in Mumbai on Thursday evening and was attended by several celebs from B-town. The prison drama, starring Zahan Kapoor, the grandson of late Bollywood legend Shashi Kapoor, will premiere on Netflix today. Among the attendees was actor Ranbir Kapoor, Zahan`s cousin, who arrived to support his family member. Ranbir posed for photos alongside Zahan and director Vikramaditya Motwane. The `Brahmastra` actor looked dapper in a casual yet stylish denim-on-denim outfit. He wore a classic white T-shirt paired with a denim jacket and matching jeans, completing his look with white sneakers. The event was a star-studded affair with notable celebrities such as Ananya Panday, Pratik Gandhi, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ali Faz...

Out-of-control wildfires are ravaging parts of Los Angeles this week, ripping through neighbourhoods and enclaves many Hollywood stars call home, including the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena. California firefighters are battling wind-whipped fires tearing across the area as the quick-moving flames destroy homes and critical infrastructure.The Pacific Palisades neighbourhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit Surfin’ USA. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.As of Thursday morning, the wildfires continued to ravage Los Angeles County, with the latest blazes hitting the prestigious Ho...

Makers of the much-awaited crime drama series `Chidiya Udd`, starring actor Jackie Shroff, unveiled the official trailer on Wednesday, offering fans a glimpse into its gripping narrative. The series, based on Aabid Surti`s critically acclaimed novel `Cages`, revolves around the harsh realities of Mumbai`s underworld. Directed by Ravi Jadhav and produced by Harman Baweja and Vicky Bahri, the series features a cast that includes Bhoomika Meena, Sikandar Kher, Madhur Mittal, Mayur More, and Mita Vashisht. `Chidiya Udd` follows the story of Seher (played by Bhoomika), a young woman from Rajasthan, who struggles to break free from the clutches of crime and power in Mumbai. Check out the trailer:           View this post on Instagram                  ...