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Rotterdam film fest will give ‘Balekampa’ excellent platform: Producer

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Mumbai, Jan 26 (IANS) Kannada film “Balekempa” (The Bangle Seller) will make its world premiere at the International Film Fest Rotterdam (IIFR). Producer Vivek Gomber is confident it will give it an excellent and encouraging platform.

Gomber had last taken his production “Court” to the gala in Rotterdam.

It is written and directed by Ere Gowda, who has previously written the award-winning film “Thithi”. Gowda also makes his directorial debut with “Balekempa”, the only Indian film in competition at IFFR under the Bright Future section of the festival.

“The fact that ‘Balekempa’ will have its world premiere at such a prestigious film festival, and be the only Indian film in competition, will in itself provide an excellent platform. The film will be watched by international critics and buyers and we hope that this will help us in securing a good festival run for the film as well as sales,” Gomber told IANS in an e-mail interaction.

“I have been to Rotterdam as part of the Producer’s Lab in 2013 and with my previous film ‘Court’ in 2015, so I am a little familiar with the festival. If you just look at the films they have supported in the past, from India and internationally, it’s very encouraging,” he added.

“Balekempa” was shot on location in Bydarahalli, Karnataka – Gowda’s wife’s village, employing a predominantly local crew and a cast predominantly comprised of non-professional actors.

The Zoo Entertainment production is about a village bangle seller and his wife who cannot conceive a child, and the villagers gossip.

Do films set in India’s rural milieu find better resonance with the audience abroad?

Gomber said: “In my personal opinion, I disagree completely. The programmers do not choose a film based on that and neither do the audience. People are the same everywhere, if they like the story they will watch it no matter where it is set.”

What are his expectations with “Balekempa”?

“Every filmmaker wants their film to be released in their country. If we can help the film reach Indian audiences, I would be very happy. This is a very confident debut from an emerging voice from Karnataka and I hope that the film allows Gowda to continue telling his stories and making more films,” Gomber said.

IFFR is running from January 24 to February 4.

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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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.

 

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