Entertainment
MNS reiterates it will protect ‘Padmaavat’ screening, crew and stars
Mumbai, Jan 23 (IANS) In a relief of sorts for Bollywood producer-director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday said it would maintain a vigil outside cinemas where the controversial film ‘Padmaavat’ is slated for release.
MNS General Secretary Shalini Thackeray said that if the Supreme Court and the Central Board of Film Certification have cleared the film, “it is wrong to protest against its release”.
Thackeray, also the Executive President of the Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena (MNCKS), reiterated that the party will ensure there are no obstacles to the film’s release and screening in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.
“However, if anybody tried to prevent ‘Padmaavat’ release in Mumbai or Maharashtra, the MNS is capable of protecting the film director, artistes, and the crew,” Thackeray asserted.
Last fortnight, the party had announced that it had no objections to the film’s release (set for January 25) and said filmmakers were entitled to freedom of creative expression.
She said that despite the apex court’s clear directives to release it in all states, in some states like Gujarat, there is no sign it will be exhibited as theatre and multiplex owners fear violence and losses as the Karni Sena is unnecessarily opposing the film.
“The country’s Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) hails from that state. If law and order cannot be maintained in that state, we can understand the kind of alarming situation that prevails there and in other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states like Rajasthan, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh,” Thackeray said.
In a related development, the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India (COEAI) President Nitin Datar said so far it’s not clear in how many single-screen theatres or multiplexes the film is likely to be released.
“We have already written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to provide adequate security to cinemas screening the film. Also, we have advised all cinema owners to seek security from their local police, wherever they plan to exhibit the film,” Datar told IANS.
Cinema and multiplex owners in Mumbai have remained non-committal on the response to advance bookings and declined to comment on how many shows or number of days they are likely to exhibit ‘Padmaavat’.
–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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