Entertainment
Irrfan hopeful ‘Blackmail’ will recreate ‘Hindi Medium’ magic (Movie Snippets)
Mumbai, Feb 20 (IANS) Actor Irrfan Khan, who will next be seen in “Blackmail”, says he is hopeful that the film will recreate the magic of “Hindi Medium”.
After “Hindi Medium”, which was written by Zeenat Lakhani and directed by Saket Chaudhary, Irrfan and T-Series are set to collaborate again. While Irrfan will act in “Blackmail”, the banner will back the Abhinay Deo directorial.
“I am glad Bhushan Kumar from T-Series and I have got together for our next entertainer ‘Blackmail’. The film is a fantastic vision of Abhinay. I am hopeful that ‘Blackmail’ will recreate the magic,” Irrfan said in a statement.
“‘Hindi Medium’ will always be an important film for me as it was a story that was relatable and the reality depicted impacts most of us at some level. Audiences loving the film and the awards that the film bagged have made the journey exciting,” he added.
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Dancing with pigeon on head in ‘Delhi-6’ wasn’t easy: Sonam
Actress Sonam Kapoor says it was not a cakewalk to dance with a pigeon on her head for the song “Masakali” from the 2009 film “Delhi-6”.
“Can’t believe it has already been nine years since ‘Delhi-6’! I still remember it like it was yesterday. Trust me though, dancing with that pigeon on my head was not as easy as it looks,” Sonam tweeted on Tuesday along with the video of the track.
The Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directorial was Sonam’s third film. It also featured Abhishek Bachchan, late actor Om Puri, Waheeda Rahman, Rishi Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Deepak Dobriyal, Divya Dutta and Aditi Rao Hydari.
Sonam will soon be seen in “Veere Di Wedding”, “Sanju” and “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga”
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Taapsee’s hockey training comes handy for ‘Manmarziyan’
Taapsee Pannu’s hockey training from “Soorma” is coming in handy for “Manmarziyan” and the actress finds it rare and uncanny.
“It’s very rare and uncanny that a sport I learnt for a specific film carried forward in my immediate next. I learned hockey for ‘Soorma’ but ended up using the skills in ‘Manmarziyan’ as well,” Taapsee said in a statement.
The actress says she will be playing a sports shop owner in the Anurag Kashyap directorial.
“Unlike ‘Soorma’, I don’t play a professional hockey player in ‘Manmarziyan’, instead, I play a sports shop owner who sells sports goods and has learnt hockey from her parents. The good part is that we saved the preparation time because of that,” she added.
Taapsee has begun with the first schedule of “Manmarziyan” with actors Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan.
–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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