Entertainment
Responsibility of IFFI to screen ‘S Durga’: Anand Gandhi
Panaji, Nov 23 (IANS) Calling Malayalam film “S Durga” one of the best Indian films of the year, IFFI Steering Committee member Anand Gandhi on Thursday said that it was the responsibility of the festival authorities to screen the controversial film.
Even though some films cause anxiety, discomfort and challenge privileges, they hold a window to the future and must be acknowledged, Gandhi, a director, told IANS at the 48th International Film Festival of India here.
“If I was on the jury, I would also strongly recommend the film considering I really feel that this is one of the best films made in this country this year.
“I really think inclusiveness there would mean including the expert opinion and taking it seriously,” Gandhi said, when asked if the organisers were not being inclusive in spirit by dodging the issue of screening the film, despite the Kerala High Court on Tuesday directing the IFFI hosts to screen Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s “S Durga”.
“I really think the festival should address this and redress this urgently. Everybody concerned with the festival including all of us should make this festival inclusive and by inclusive it doesn’t mean non-curated of course,” the director of National award-winning film “The Ship of Theseus” said.
The makers of the film have claimed that both IFFI Director Sunit Tandon as well as the Union Ministry for Information and Broadcasting have been ignoring them over the issue of screening the film at the festival despite orders from the high court.
“S Durga” and Marathi film “Nude” were controversially dropped by the I&B Ministry from the screening schedule at the Indian Panorama section, despite the jury’s approval.
Gandhi claimed that there is a need to be responsible towards films and filmmakers.
“We need to be extremely responsible towards films and filmmakers, who are taking us towards the future and this future may not always be comfortable, not always be causing us great discomfort, may cause us anxiety even, but that is the whole point of art.
“The whole point of art, cinema is to challenge our notions, to challenge our privileges, to make us question, to make us course correct.
“And hence it is extremely important for a film of this calibre and I have seen the film. I stand by the filmmaker’s desire to be at a festival of this calibre. It is our biggest international film festival and there is a mutual relationship there.
“The filmmaker has shown the desire, has shown his part of the social contract by offering his insights, his ideas and his worldview to the platform and in turn the platform has to honour that social contract it has towards its artistes and its filmmakers,” Gandhi said.
–IANS
maya/him/bg
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
