Entertainment
Punjabi film industry needs governing bodies: Sheirgill
New Delhi: Actor Jimmy Sheirgill, who has carved a niche for himself in the Hindi and Punjabi industry in his almost two decades long career, says Punjabi cinema is on a growth trajectory, and it can work better with proper governing bodies.
“Punjabi cinema is growing and it is on a very fresh stage right now. Punjabi film industry still needs to have proper governing bodies like a Producers’ association, directors’ association, writers’ association… and more for it to become properly organised and professional,” Jimmy told over phone from Mumbai.
While the actor has found praise for the variety of roles he has essayed in Bollywood — the recent being his part in “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” — he says he makes sure he does Punjabi films off and on too.
“Yaaran Naal Baharan” was Jimmy’s first Punjabi hit, after which he went on to act in many other movies in the language, including “Mel Karade Rabba”.
Talking about how his stint with Punjabi cinema began, he shared that it was due to director Manmohan Singh.
“I enjoyed working with him so much so that I decided to do a Punjabi film every year. Looking at the response the film got, I realised and decided that I have to do something for this industry from my end,” said Jimmy, who says he spares ample time to promote all his movies.
In Bollywood, Jimmy got noticed with Aditya Chopra’s 2000 film “Mohabbatein”, even though he had made his debut with the 1996 critically acclaimed movie “Maachis”. He has since starred in myriad roles — from comical entertainers like “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” and “Fugly”; intense dramas like “Yahaan”, “A Wednesday” and “Special 26”; and also movies like “My Name is Khan” and “Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster”.
Rarely does Jimmy, 44, like a break.
“I never wanted to sit at home, always wanted to be working, and that is exactly what I have been doing for the past 20 years now. I am happy about it.
“Each time I have tried to take a break, it has not been really a good time for me. I was bed-ridden in the year 2011 for almost a year because of my spine and at that time I thought it was over for me. It was probably the worst phase of my life,” he said.
Thankful about being back in action, the actor cited a lesson he learnt from veteran writer and “Maachis” director Gulzar, who directed “Maachis”, and said: “The worst thing for an actor is to be sitting at home not doing anything.”
Jimmy is also a popular supporting actor, but he has no qualms about playing second fiddle as he feels he gets powerful roles to essay.
Talking specifically about Sanjay Dutt starrer “Munna Bhai M.B.B.S”, in which he was seen as a depressed boy, he said: “I did not think at that point of time that I am going for a supporting role, whereas I am doing solo leads at the moment. Maybe because the role or the script excited me more.”
He also said how in current times, character-driven roles are getting more appreciation in the film industry.
Jimmy is currently awaiting the release of his Punjabi film “Hero-Naam Yaad Rakhi” on July 10 and post that is a Hindi film “Madari”, a socio-political drama, which also features actor Irrfan Khan. Thereafter, he has another Punjabi film titled “Shareek”, scheduled to release on October 22.
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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