Entertainment
Short films finding new space in showbiz: Pallavi Joshi
Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS) Short films are coming into their own in the growing space of digital entertainment, says actress Pallavi Joshi.
She feels the format has carved its own niche without being compared with a feature film, and that is a positive change towards great storytelling.
Directed by Heena D’Souza, the film has not only received a positive response on the digital platform, but is also nominated for the 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018.
Asked if the inclusion of short films in mainstream Hindi film awards is a sign of validation to the format, Pallavi told IANS: “Well, it is a positive sign. I am glad to see that short films are finding new space in entertainment business without being compared with feature films.
“This is new age entertainment where storytelling is celebrated with short films, web series, short video content and more.”
Pallavi finds the space of short films interesting, but she believes that one can add an entertainment value to any message for reaching out to the wider audience.
“That is the power of short films. it is a genre where from 3 to 45 minutes, one can choose the length of a story to give out any message without being too direct about it.”
Remembering her childhood, she said: “In our school, we had to memorize poems. Now, as a kid, remembering them was difficult, so our parents and teachers used to make those poems like songs. And we used to sing them along without realizing we were memorizing those poems.
“Similarly, when one wants to spread out any message, the best way to do it is to add up entertainment value to it through storytelling. It will become a multi-layered story with a meaningful message.”
The story of “Pressure Cooker” revolves around an elderly married couple and how the woman tries to work around the relationship to keep it warm and emotional.
Explaining the analogy of pressure cooker which has been used in the film, Pallavi said: “I found the story very interesting. Like the way instead of throwing away the pressure cooker, Swati (her character) is trying to repair it, in life also she is trying to hold onto her relationship with her husband who is otherwise a noisy, annoying person.
“While the present generation prefers to get rid off any relationship easily, therefore the shelf life of everything is going away. This film talks about how to hold on your things. Your husband might be an annoying man but he is your husband who at the end of the day loves you because you are his wife.”
—IANS
aru/rb/vm
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.
Content provided by Adverloom