Entertainment
Need to have a star-led vehicle to cast Indian stars: Gurinder Chadha
By Sugandha Rawal
New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) Gurinder Chadha wants to work with superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Kangana Ranaut. But the British film director of Sikh origin says big Indian stars need “a certain kind of film” which is different from her style of working.
“I think the thing is that big stars here (in India) need a certain kind of film to be part of and the kind of films that I come up with is often very quirky, and different from what maybe they want to do,” Chadha told IANS on the phone from Mumbai.
“So, unless I come up with a full star-led vehicle for them (it is difficult to cast Indian actors in my films). I have to think of films like that where I rhyme this British-Indian combination thing.”
Chadha, known for films like “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Bride & Prejudice”, doesn’t rule out the possibility of her getting Bollywood actors in her projects.
“I never say never. If someone has to give me a really interesting script here in India, I would do it.”
Be it “Bend It Like Beckham”, “Bride & Prejudice” or “Partition: 1947” (released internationally as “Viceroy’s House”) — Chadha might have picked stories from different eras and cultures, but the one thing that ties them together is the presence of strong female characters.
The filmmaker, who was honoured with the Order of the British Empire, is in favour of initiating a campaign asking big Indian productions houses to churn scripts in sync with her style.
“Let’s start a campaign. Let’s write to Shah Rukh, Aamir, Kangana and all the interesting people…Dharma Productions, Yash Raj Films (asking them to) get Gurinder an interesting script.”
At the moment, she is basking in the all the appreciation that is coming her way for “Partition: 1947”, for which she went back to trace her roots and document events that led to India’s partition.
The film narrates the story of the trauma that people went through due to the division, and how it changed their lives. Taking the lead from Narendra Singh Sarila’s book “The Shadow of the Great Game”, she has also brought in the British side of the story, and showed what role Lord Mountbatten played in all of it.
“India is a ship on fire” – is a line in the film which refers to all the communal events that happened in the name of religion at the time of the partition.
And Gurinder, whose own family was caught up in the events that unfolded as the British Raj came to an end, says the film is “sadly very relevant” at the moment with many practicing “divide and rule” policy around the world.
“Sadly, I think the film is very relevant today because of not just what is happening here (India) but also around the world. There is a lot of divide and rule around the world. We have that in Europe and England too…
“The whole Brexit (the process by which United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union) thing, (there is) the fear of the unknown, the fear of foreigners, fear of refugees, fear of people who are different to you, and certain people use that fear to make political capital.”
But not everything is gloomy.
“When things go bad, hopefully good things come out of it,” the mother of two said on a positive note.
She is also developing a TV series, one of which is with BBC on Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his children, and there’s also a project based on an Asian household and a child’s dreams.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians)
–IANS
sug/rb/vm
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
Content provided by Adverloom
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
