Entertainment
‘2 States’, ‘Queen’ lead 60th Filmfare Awards nominations
Mumbai: Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor starer romantic comedy “2 States” is leading the 60th Filmfare Awards with seven nominations, followed by Kangana Ranaut’s comedy drama “Queen” which has been named in five different categories.
The sleeper hits of 2014 have left behind big-budget blockbusters “PK”, “Happy New Year” and “Kick”.
“2 States” has been nominated in various categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female), Best Music and Best Playback Singer (Male).
On the other hand, Kangana’s “Queen” stands a chance to win in categories including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) and Best Music.
Apart from “Queen” and “2 States”, the Best Film category includes “Mary Kom”, “Haider” and “PK”.
Abhishek Varman (“2 States”), Anurag Kashyap (“Ugly”), Rajkumar Hirani (“PK”), Vikas Bahl (“Queen”) and Vishal Bhardwaj (“Haider”) are in the race for the Best Director title.
Despite striking gold at the box office with “Kick” and “Happy New Year”, Bollywood’s leading Khans – Salman and Shah Rukh – have been neglected in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category. However, Aamir Khan is nominated for his satirical comedy-drama “PK” alongside Akshay Kumar (“Holiday”), Hrithik Roshan (“Bang Bang!”), Randeep Hooda (“Rang Rasiya”) and Shahid Kapoor (“Haider”).
Actresses Alia Bhatt (“Highway”), Kangana Ranaut (“Queen”), Madhuri Dixit (“Dedh Ishqiya”), Priyanka Chopra (“Mary Kom”), Rani Mukerji (“Mardaani”) and Sonam Kapoor (“Khoobsurat”) are competing for the Best Actress trophy.
In Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) category, Abhishek Bachchan (“Happy New Year”), Kay Kay Menon (“Haider”), Riteish Deshmukh (“Ek Villain”), Ronit Roy (“2 States”) and Tahir Raj Bhasin (“Mardaani”) have been nominated.
The competition for the Supporting Actress accolades will be between Amrita Singh (“2 States”), Dimple Kapadia (“Finding Fanny”), Juhi Chawla (“Gulaab Gang”), Lisa Haydon (“Queen”) and Tabu (“Haider”).
Although music maestro A.R. Rahman has not been included for Best Music category, there is a tough fight between Amit Trivedi (“Queen”), Anupam Amod, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Mithoon and Pritam (“Yaariyan”), Himesh Reshammiya, Meet Bros Anjjan and Yo Yo Honey Singh (“Kick”), Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari and SOCH (“Ek Villain”) and Shankar-Eshaan-Loy (“2 States”).
For Best Lyrics, this year Amitabh Bhattacharya for “Zehnaseeb” (“Hasee Toh Phasee”), Gulzar for “Bismil” (“Haider”), Irshad Kamil for “Patakha guddi” (“Highway”), Kausar Munir for “Suno na sangemarmar” (“Youngistaan”) and Rashmi Singh for “Muskurane ki wajah” (“CityLights”) will be competing with each other.
Singer Ankit Tiwari for “Galliyan” (“Ek Villain”), Arijit Singh for “Mast magan” (“2 States”) and “Suno na sangemarmar” (“Youngistaan”), Benny Dayal for “Locha-E-Ulfat” (“2 States”) and Shekhar Ravjiani for “Zehnaseeb” (“Hasee Toh Phasee”) are in the race for Best Playback Singer (Male) category.
For the same award in female category, Jyoti Nooran and Sultana Nooran for “Patakha guddi” (“Highway”), Kanika Kapoor for “Baby doll” (“Ragini MMS 2”), Rekha Bhardwaj for “Humari atariya pe” (“Dedh Ishqiya”), Shreya Ghoshal for “Manwa lage” (“Happy New Year”) and Sona Mahapatra for “Naina” (“Khoobsurat”) have been nominated.
The complete nomination list is available on filmfare.com, while the awards ceremony will take place Jan 31 in Mumbai.
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.
Content provided by Adverloom
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
