Connect with us

Entertainment

We know about Rajkummar’s APSA, not Manipur’s Haobam Paban Kumar: Adil Hussain (Lead)

Published

on

Kolkata, Nov 24 (IANS) Critically acclaimed actor Adil Hussain says role models are slowly emerging from the northeast states but it would take time. He drew attention to the absence of awareness about filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar’s special mention at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for the Manipuri movie “Lady of the Lake”.

“He (Kumar) got it, but we don’t know about it. But we know about Rajkummar Rao’s win,” Adil pointed out during a session at the India Today Conclave East.

India’s Oscar entry “Newton” secured two wins at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane on Thursday, with Rajkummar Rao winning the best actor and Mayank Tewari and Amit V. Masurkar claiming the best screenplay honour. Manipuri movie “Lady of the Lake” won a special mention.

Asked about role models emerging from the northeast states, the “Parched” actor responded positively, citing examples.

“It’s happening with Papon from Assam. He is becoming famous across India for singing in Hindi films. I come from a small town called Goalpara in Assam… When they see Adil is doing films across the globe, (people feel) if he can do it, then we can do it… There is amazing amount of talent in the region,” he said.

“The discourse has just started a few years ago… (the Look East and Act East policy). It will take a few generations, but with the help of information technology, it will go faster,” added Adil, who has acted in English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, Norwegian and French films.

He added that the “narrative” of reverse racism needs to change and in today’s day and age, he sees that evolving in the northeastern states with more exposure.

“When people from this part of the country go to northeast, when they go they can be asked ‘Oh, you have come from India’… I have experienced that, but it was long back. I haven’t faced that recently,” said Adil.

He also said dark actors always being typified as villains also needs to change.

“We need to find ways to evolve from this narrative of reverse racism. A dark actor will always get to play negative characters,” the 54-year-old added.

Assamese author Mitra Phukan urged the authorities to help develop infrastructure in the northeastern states so that more people can visit and tourism is enhanced.

“Everybody wants to go to the northeast. But the problem is infrastructure. The roads are not good enough. Except larger towns, there aren’t enough good hotels. There is a threat of insurgency. Who will want to go like that?” she questioned.

The writer of “The Collector’s Wife” added food bridges barriers and the fact that ‘momo’ is so popular across the country shows that. She also informed, conversely, that South Indian delicacy ‘idli’ is a favourite of many Meghalayans.

“Naga food is becoming very popular, Assamese food is also very popular and there is of course momo everywhere. Conversely, idli is becoming more popular in Meghalaya for instance,” she said.

Meiyang Chang, who is of Chinese descent, born in Dhanbad, said he takes the catcalls of “Chinki” in his stride, and added that the situation has improved recently.

“I am not called a ‘Chinki’, but an assortment of sounds which sound like many things. I get offended when I hear that. I reply with a smile. Only when it gets beyond a limit, I react.

“For the longest time, I didn’t think I was different. I had a Bihari accent as I am from Dhanbad. I used to tell people I look like you. I started realising later I look different after people asked me out of curiosity and not some malice. It’s not always out of malice that people call you stuff,” said the 35-year-old singing reality show “Indian Idol” contestant.

–IANS
dm-sgh/rb/bg

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

Published

on

By

CasinoDays India

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.

CasinoDays India

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.

 

CasinoDays India

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

Continue Reading

Trending