Entertainment
Bday Spcl! Alia Bhatt discloses the thing that keeps her alive
Actress Alia Bhatt, whose look from her upcoming film “Raazi” was unveiled on her 25th birthday on Thursday, says movies keep her alive.
Alia and “Raazi” producer Karan Johar treated her fans to a glimpse into her look for the film, which is directed by Meghna Gulzar. It is a period drama based on Harinder Sikka’s novel “Calling Sehmat”, about a Kashmiri spy married to a Pakistani man during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Alia, who started her film journey with “Student of The Year” and has impressed critics and audiences with projects like “Highway”, “Udta Punjab”, “Badrinath Ki Dulhania” and “Dear Zindagi” among others, shared two images from “Raazi” on Instagram.
“Movies, or in this case my movies, aren’t just something I do for a living. It’s kind of the reason I feel like I’m alive. So… On my 25th birthday I’ve randomly picked out two images from the 25th day of shoot of ‘Raazi’ and the trailer will be out 25 days from today (April 9)… Happy Birthday to me,” wrote the daughter of cinema veterans Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan.
Alia’s “Raazi” look, as shared by Karan, features a close shot of the actress’ face, which has minimal make-up. She is seen wearing simple golden earrings and a nose stud for jewellery.
Vicky Kaushal, her co-star from the film, described her an “amazing human”.
The Twitter world was abuzz with wishes for the young talent, who is counted amongst the best actresses in Bollywood today.
“Your growth as an actor has been phenomenal and this is just the beginning. Keep doing what you do best! Good luck,” wished Anil Kapoor via Twitter.
Akshay Kumar called her “immensely talented”, and said: “You’re the perfect example of ‘good work speaks for itself’.”
Composer Shankar Mahadevan wished Alia a “journey full of happiness and success ahead”.
Her “Udta Punjab” and “Shaandaar” co-star Shahid Kapoor had a word of advice for Alia.
“Happy birthday! Enjoy these years, they don’t come back. May you grow creatively even more than you already have. And may you be happy… always.”
Designer Maseba Mantena, who lovingly calls Alia as “Aloo”, said: “It’s hard to believe you’re just 25. You’ve come a long way and I can hardly wait to see what you do in the next leg of your incredibly inspiring life.”
Others who wished her include Neha Kakkar, Riteish Deshmukh, Shraddha Kapoor, Pulkit Samrat, Maniesh Paul, Sophie Choudry and Nimrat Kaur.
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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