Entertainment
DDLJ turns 25: SRK reveals why he was sceptical to play a romantic hero
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) is 25 years old on Tuesday, and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan looks back at the 1995 blockbuster that helped cement his loverboy image that makes women weak in the knees even today.
SRK surprises you saying he was initially sceptical about his ability to pull off the romantic scenes in the ever-popular love story.
“I was told by many people that I looked unconventional, very different from what the perception of a leading man was. I did feel, maybe, not being handsome enough — or, as they called it back then, ‘chocolaty’ — would make me unsuitable for romantic roles. Also, I am very shy and awkward with ladies, and I didn’t know how I would say all the loving, romantic bits,” Shah Rukh recalled.
“I have to admit, for someone who doesn’t like mushy and romantic films, the scenes Kajol and I did make me feel fuzzy and warm! There, I said it,” he smiled.
Released on October 20, 1995, the Aditya Chopra directorial, which starred SRK and Kajol, the film tells the love story of Raj (SRK) and Simran (Kajol) who live in the UK. The film kicked off the trend of NRI romances on the Bollywood screen, and also reorganised romance in Hindi cinema forever.
Recalling playing Raj, SRK said: “Raj was unlike anything I had done. Before ‘DDLJ’, there was ‘Darr’, ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Anjaam’ — films in which I had portrayed negative characters. Also, I always felt that I wasn’t cut out to play any romantic type of character. So, when I was presented with the opportunity by Adi and Yash (Chopra) ji to essay the role, I was excited to work with him but had no idea how to go about it, and also if I would be able to do it well.”
“It was one of those roles that I realised I can do with me using a version of my real self. So, you might see some quirks, habits and mannerisms that were true to my off-screen persona — especially the sense of humour part,” he added.
DDLJ would go on to become the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. It ran for over 20 years in Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theatre.
Apart from Shah Rukh and Kajol, late actor Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher and Parmeet Sethi also left an indelible mark with stellar performances.
Beyond fresh storytelling, characterisation and performances, the film is also remembered to this day for the songs Jatin-Lalit composed.
SRK says he still listens to the songs of the film.
“I don’t change the radio channel when a DDLJ song comes on. I can never get sick of them. They bring back memories of a film that shaped my path forward in an unforgettable way,” Shah Rukh reminisced.
According to him, “DDLJ” helped him “cement my place and brought me fame in a way that I didn’t think it would”.
“As for perception, I always felt that I can play more unconventional roles because of my looks, but ‘DDLJ’ has belied that and I still struggle to make that one macho unconventional kicka** character which suits me, or so I thought. But its been a struggle to not be considered romantic and sweet for the last 25 years — a struggle, I guess, I am happy to lose,” Shah Rukh quipped.
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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