Entertainment
Failure of ‘Sui Dhaaga’ must have left Anushka Sharma in this SHOCKING position
Actress Anushka Sharma, who feels a sense of validation when her “risky” choices bear fruit, is smiling from ear-to-ear due to the success of “Sui Dhaaga – Made in India”. Confident as she is about all her projects, she says she would have been hurt had the movie or her role not got the appreciation it has received.
Produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Sharat Katariya, the movie is an ode to the entrepreneurial spirit that can drive the nation to speedy progress. It stars Anushka with Varun Dhawan. They have both fetched equal praise.
“I am very happy that the film has not only set the registers ringing but also received a lot of love from people, and that is paramount for us. I always believed that this film would reach the masses… I feel glad that the collaborative effort of Varun and me has worked for the film and we have been a part of a successful film like ‘Sui Dhaaga’,” Anushka told in responses over email.
In the movie, Anushka plays village simpleton Mamta.
The actress has been unconventional in her choice of roles right from her 2008 Bollywood debut “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”. The streak continued with projects like “Band Baaja Baaraat”, “Ladies vs Rcky Bahl”, “PK”, “NH10”, “Dil Dhadakne Do”, “Pari” and now “Sui Dhaaga”.
“I feel when I do diverse work like this or I do the so called ‘risky’ roles like these and when they do well, I feel a sense of validation for the choices that I have made. When the film is successful and my role and work gets appreciated, I get a validation from the audience that I am making the right choices and I should continue to do so.
“I would have been really hurt and confused if a film like ‘Sui Dhaaga’ or my role in the film hadn’t got the appreciation that it has as somewhere I believe that if I play a character like Mamta who is so different to who I am as a person and literally who is at the opposite end of the spectrum to who I am, and if this role had not been received by the audience even though I wanted it to, I would have been really upset.”
However, for her it is heartening that the audience noticed a transformation.
“Like I have transformed on-screen… One could not see any traces of Anushka Sharma in Mamta. For any actor, that’s the biggest compliment and I hope they will continue to appreciate the diverse work that I am going to do in my career here onwards,” Anushka added.
She is also a film producer and is known to back content like “NH10”, “Pari” and “Phillauri” that are not conventionally Bollywood.
“The idea has always been to do films and to do roles which have a unique voice and perspective. My choices have always been unconventional. I have never walked the beaten path and I have always tried to do things in a way that has suited me and what I feel is the right thing to do.
“It so happens that it turns out to be unconventional choices, but the most important thing is that those unconventional choices get appreciated by the audience and applauded by them. That is something which is my true accomplishment because of them.”
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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