Entertainment
Getting ‘A’ certificate for ‘Nude’ with no cuts refreshing change: Director
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Jan 20 (IANS) Director Ravi Jadhav is happy to get an ‘A’ certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for “Nude” without any cuts, and says he couldn’t have hoped for a better treatment for his controversial Marathi film.
Jadhav said: “The censor board had set-up a four-member panel earlier. They had recommended several cuts which I didn’t accept. The Regional Officer of the CBFC did a very sensible thing. He set my film aside and brought it up again under the tenure of the new chairperson Prasoon Joshi.
“They viewed the film and gave it a standing ovation and passed it uncut. After what I’ve gone through (‘Nude’ was denied a screening at the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November last year). This was quite a refreshing change from the expected.”
Ravi is all praise for actress Vidya Balan, who headed the four-member censor panel to view and certify “Nude”.
“Not just Vidya Balan-ji, all panel members had tears in their eyes and they all gave my film a standing ovation. Vidya-ji had so many questions about the films, its theme, cinematography, the leading lady Kalyanee Mulay.”
“She wanted to know where Kalyanee came from, what else she had played. She has a very high level of aesthetics and the curiosity to explore creativity. She is definitely qualified to evaluate films for the censor board.”
The “Nude” director was also full of praise for Joshi as well.
“He has definitely brought in a change at the CBFC. Films are being viewed in the right perspective. I doubt my film would have gone uncut during the earlier regime at the CBFC.”
At the moment, he is preparing to release the film.
“We are looking at a March release.”
Is he apprehensive that his film’s provocative title will bring in the wrong kind of audience?
“Not at all! The word ‘nude’ has been used with nude art since 1856. All books paintings and other works of art have referred to nude art with word ‘nude’ in it, so why should we shy away from the word? It is about time we stopped cringing at the mention of nudity.”
The director is now busy with his biopic on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Riteish Deshmukh is not only playing the title character, but also producing the film.
“Riteish is a good actor and a good producer. More importantly he is a good human being,” he said.
–IANS
skj/sug/dg
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