Entertainment
Taapsee Pannu to play different role in ‘Agra Ka Daabra’
Mumbai: Taapsee Pannu after playing cameo in “Baby” is now looking forward to do a different role in her next film “Agra Ka Daabra” that might prove to be an image changer.
The chirpy and vivacious actress said: “Contrary to the kickass image in ‘Chashme Baddoor’ and ‘Baby’, I play an extremely demure softspoken ‘simti si sehmi si nazaaqat se bhari’ (subdued and delicate) Muslim girl in ‘Agra Ka Daabra’.”
“Agra Ka Daabra” is directed by Shoojit Sircar, and also features Ayushmann Khurrana.
“My co-star Ayushmann Khurrana is already saying good things about me. I guess I am lucky,” Taapsee said.
Talking about “Baby”, she said: “Most people have loved the film. Even those who haven’t liked the film that much have been extremely responsive to my performance.”
Playing an undercover agent on a dangerous mission, Tapsee had to pull out all the stops in her hand-to-hand combat with Sushant Singh.
“I did the entire lengthy fight on my own without a body double,” Taapsee said, and added: “It has taken a toll on me. My old leg joint injury has resurfaced. But that happened later.
“During the fight I was thrown around all over the room. There were times when one or the other of my limbs wouldn’t move. I had to take painkillers and go ahead with the stunt.”
The end result was worth it.
She gives credit to her action director and co-star Akshay Kumar for the sequence.
“We had two gentlemen on board to train. My co-star Akshay Kumar was such a big help. Being a disciple of martial arts himself, he guided me through the sequence. Of course the fact that I’ve always been a sporty outdoor type helped me to get the scene right,” she said.
Taapsee says she has been lucky with her colleagues and co-stars.
“Whether it was the ‘Baby’ director and hero Neeraj Pandey sir and Akshay Kumar sir, or my director Amit Roy and co-star Amit Sadh in my new film ‘Runningshadi.com’, they have been my best promoters. They’ve always said good things about me.”
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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