Entertainment
‘Baby’ openly talks about terrorism: Akshay Kumar
New Delhi: After impressing audiences and critics with his army officer act in “Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty” in 2014, Bollywood’s action star Akshay Kumar is once again broaching the subject of terrorism in his forthcoming film “Baby”. He says the intent is to discuss these issues “openly” to spread awareness.
If “Holiday…” was about sleeper cells, “Baby” revolves around a story about how the common man in India faces a threat from terrorists and how the government tries to prevent such attacks.
In a tete-a-tete with, Akshay, looking casual in a sweatshirt, jeans and a beanie, opened up about the movie and his action avatar.
“I’m playing an undercover agent in the film. We are a group named Baby, which includes Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati and a few other actors.”
Akshay is happy with the end result of the film, directed by Neeraj Pandey, who had helmed “A Wednesday!”, a movie that was about the impact of terrorism on the common man.
” ‘Baby’ is a well-carved film. It talks about terrorism, which is a big consideration in today’s world. Terrorism, as a topic, can be seen in every newspaper. So we thought of making people aware about it. The film talks very openly about it. The story of ‘Baby’ is inspired by various real life incidents,” he said.
The movie will see Akshay packing in a punch as far as his action scenes are concerned.
But while his stunts and action-packed performances in films have given him the tag of ‘Khiladi’, the 47-year-old actor says that his versatility “is not just limited to action”.
“I have played different roles in my career. It’s not just limited to action. For example, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ was a horror film. ‘Namastey London’ was a romantic one. Also, I have done many comedy films. However, a lot depends upon viewers’ taste. People love to see me doing action films,” said Akshay, adding that he’d love to romance on screen if not do a lot of action.
Talking about his romance with real-life wife Twinkle Khanna, with whom he celebrated 14 years of marital bliss Jan 17, Akshay was quick to give some suggestions for a happy married life.
“Whenever you get time from your work, do spend it with your spouse. Do things together. Try to act as two friends rather than being a husband and wife because it will help you in strengthening your bonds,” he said.
It’s no wonder he’s doing that – and enjoying it.
On his anniversary, Akshay had tweeted for Twinkle: “After 14 years of listening to the same old jokes of @mrsfunnybones I still wait to hear more!”
Together, they have a son Aarav and daughter Nitara.
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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