Entertainment
Censor board behaving like the Taliban: Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj
Mumbai: His unabashed use of abuses and rustic lingo in his films has always added to the power of his cinema. National Award winning filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has reacted strongly to diktats on film content, saying that the Central Board of Film Certification is behaving like the Taliban and that the body should be “chopped off”.
In an interview with media, the multi-talented Bhardwaj – a writer, singer, composer, director and producer – spoke uninhibitedly about the curb on filmmakers’ creativity.
The debate on censorship guidelines has been on for a long time, but it was a list of cuss words to be banned from films – as suggested by the CBFC under filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani’s chairmanship – that added fuel to the fire.
Bhardwaj says that while Indian films are “moving towards international recognition”, the government should exercise a limit on the CBFC’s power to curb the “art form” that is cinema.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Do you feel that Indian cinema is getting recognised globally?
A: Yes, we are really moving towards international recognition… We are in the best of times at the moment. The line between commercial and arthouse cinema has blurred. Today we have films like ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘Badlapur’ doing such great business… we have audience for each and every kind of film.
Q: But hasn’t Bollywood become stereotypical in its scripts?
A: The whole cinema should not be called stereotyped. Stories of films like ‘Badlapur’ and ‘Haider’ are totally different and unique from what we have seen till now. In fact, we are breaking the stereotype image of our cinema.
But, if we talk about commercial cinema, that will remain stereotyped.
Q: The Indian entertainment industry has been facing a backlash for its content — whether it’s the AIB Roast, Aamir Khan’s ‘PK’ controversy or the CBFC’s announcement regarding the words that should be omitted from films. Don’t you feel Indian filmmakers are being dominated?
A: It’s really sad what is happening right now. The Censor Board is behaving like a Taliban. They should be censored and chopped. They censor our films, they should be chopped first. They should know their limits…it’s (film is) an art form.
They should be restricted by the government, and I hope that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry realises soon that film is a form of art. They are not only about ‘gaana-bajaana’ and ‘nautanki’. That I&B ministry has to understand…their (the censor’s) scissors should be snatched away and thrown into a valley.
Q. But don’t abuses in films have a negative effect on the audience?
A. Why? When you use an abuse on the road, won’t that have a negative effect on you? A film is the mirror of the reality and not vice versa. A film doesn’t create reality, it just reflects reality.
Either the government makes a rule that people shouldn’t abuse on road. Then we will feel that the government wants to change the character of the nation. If the government really wants to make a change, then they should consider abusing behind the camera as a crime too. The society should change, not films, because filmmakers only show what all is happening in the society.
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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