Entertainment
Distributors wary of releasing ‘Padmavati’ in Rajasthan
Jaipur, Nov 7 (IANS) Film distributors in Rajasthan are wary of releasing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmavati”, scheduled to hit the screens on December 1.
“I can talk about my company… We will not like to buy the distribution rights of the film till the controversy is resolved,” Raj Bansal, a leading film distributor here, told IANS.
Echoing similar views, another distributor on condition of anonymity, said: “No one would like to be part of controversy… So I would not like to buy the distribution rights.”
The Sri Rajput Karni Sena, an organisation of the Rajput community and the Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, a Brahmin community organisation, have decided to oppose the release of the film. According to them, historical facts have been distorted in the film.
“They are trying to defame Padmavati by distorting historical facts. It is not acceptable,” an activist of Sri Rajput Karni Sena said.
There are around 300 screens in Rajasthan and it will be a loss of around Rs 5 crore if the film is not released in the state, sources said.
“We are demanding that Bhansali’s team should screen the movie for historians and intellectuals before releasing it as was promised by them a few months back. We are apprehensive that historical facts have been distorted in the movie,” Vishavbandhu Rathore, Pradesh Mahasachiv, Sri Rajput Karni Sena, told IANS.
In January, activists of Sri Rajput Karni Sena had protested, manhandled and misbehaved with the crew of “Padmavati”, claiming Bhansali was distorting historical facts in the movie.
The movie sets out to tell the tale of Rani Padmavati – the legendary Mewar queen known as much for her beauty and intelligence as she was for her courage, her husband Maharawal Ratan Singh – a glorious Rajput ruler and a warrior king who fought till his dying breath to defend his kingdom and his wife’s honour and Sultan Alauddin Khilji – an ambitious and obsessive invader.
The Sri Rajput Karni Sena, along with other organisations, had called for a Chittorgarh bandh on November 3. Along with like-minded organisations, the Karni Sena plans to organise a big rally in Gandhinagar in Gujarat on November 12 against the movie.
–IANS
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Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
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.
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