Entertainment
Katrina Kaif’s red locks: The ‘Fitoor’ behind it
New Delhi: Katrina Kaif’s red locks caught more eyeballs than her monochrome and scarlet ensembles at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival. Bollywood’s glamour girl, who had ditched her dark tresses for new film “Fitoor”, says she experienced jitters before stepping into a salon for the makeover.
Helmed by “Rock On!!” fame director Abhishek Kapoor, the film, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ famous novel “Great Expectations”, will present Katrina as a redhead. The idea was all thanks to the director.
“At the same time, we both thought… this character… would be something fiery and new. We both instantly agreed on this and decided to colour the hair red,” Katrina, who was in Cannes as the L’Oreal Paris brand ambassador, told.
“He was super excited about it and I was very nervous, because colouring the hair can be a little scary or damaging, especially when you have long hair. So, I did a lot of research. I thought of where to go and how to do it. In the end, it came out really nice. I am happy,” she added.
The 31-year-old actress, who has her roots in London and has been working in Hindi filmdom since 2003, went to the British capital’s hair expert Daniel Galvin, who has worked on tresses of celebrities like popstar Madonna and the late Princess Diana.
“He is a well-known hair colourist… It took a day and a half to colour my hair. I sat for eight hours on the first day, and then went back to the salon next morning,” said the “Bang Bang!” star, who at one point in her career, delivered six back-to-back hits.
The reason why Katrina went with her red look to Cannes was because the shooting of “Fitoor” is yet to be completed.
Also, it’s not just the hair she has experimented with for the film, which is “classic in visual” with a modern story. Even her clothes are different!
Katrina, who has donned almost everything – from Patiala suits to saris to corset bodysuits – in her films, will be seen sporting a voluminous long skirt with neatly tucked in shirt in one sequence of “Fitoor”.
Talking about her clothes in the film, Katarina said: “Every film has a different requirement. This one is classic in visual, but the story is modern. It’s a different take on a love story. The director was clear on the way he wanted the girl to look like. Anaita (Shroff Adajania) is the stylist. She has done a great job. I worked with her in
‘Dhoom:3’.”
Apart from the look, she also had a good time shooting in the capital earlier this year.
“We shot in Humayun’s Tomb. It is a beautiful location. We did some amazing stuff there. We also shot on the highway and at the Imperial Hotel,” said Katrina, who is happy filming anywhere as long as she is working with a good team and in a good film.
The movie also stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Rekha and Lara Dutta.
She’s glad she shares a “nice comfort level” with the “Aashiqui 2” star.
“I had seen ‘Aashiqui 2′. I think he did a lovely job in it. He was nice in the film and we know each other through our friends’ circle in Mumbai. I know him from that group so, I’ve seen him and met him quite a few times. There is a nice comfort level,” said Katrina, who has “trust and faith in a director’s vision”.
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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