Entertainment
‘Pakistani films must create own identity, not copy Bollywood’
New Delhi: Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi says the influx of Hindi films has spelt trouble for his country’s entertainment industry, which he feels is losing its distinct identity in a race to “be a cheap copy of Bollywood”.
“I feel the Indian film industry has had a huge impact in Pakistan because they filled the void which was created when films were not being made here (in my country). Our filmmakers have grown up watching Hindi films, so they are trying to make films which look like Bollywood films,” Hamza told IANS in an exclusive interview over phone from Islamabad.
“Pakistan’s film industry should make its own identity. I don’t want our film industry to be some wannabe film industry,” added the actor, whose maternal family hails from Amritsar.
Now he has walked into the Indian small screen through his show “Pyaare Afzal”, which beams here on Zindagi channel.
Hamza, who has studied bachelors in international relations and development from US and is a former cultural secretary of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), evinces hope with the new wave of cinema taking over in Pakistan.
While there was a “Zinda Bhaag”, which was sent as a prospective Oscar nomination, Pakistan’s first Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chenoy has brought in animation filmmaking to the country with “3 Bahadur”, a 3D feature drama.
“Our film industry is still in a process of emerging. With this new film industry, we have a chance to make it a distinct medium of representation instead of trying to be a cheap copy of Bollywood,” he added.
The actor, who has worked in films like “WAAR” and “Main Hoon Shahid Afridi” and whose theatrical repertoire includes international projects like “Bombay Dreams”, “Phantom of the Opera” and “Home is Where Your Clothes Are”, added that Pakistani film industry can learn a thing or two from its own TV industry.
“Our only representative across the globe is TV dramas. Our identity is brilliantly represented in TV dramas. I think our film industry need not learn from Bollywood ‘masala’ films, but from our drama industry,” said Hamza, who notes that “Pakistani TV dramas stay true to the country’s culture”.
How?
“For instance, I’ve not seen an item song in Pakistani dramas. Whether we agree or not, Pakistan doesn’t approve of such things,” he said, and added: “Item number is a phenomena, which is creeping into Pakistani films and is not being appreciated by our people.”
Hamza also believes that Pakistani film industry is “not adapting good Bollywood films, but which are full of ‘masala’ like ‘Grand Masti’ and ‘Housefull'”, adding that the current trend is disappointing as “Bollywood is itself trying to do away with such cinema with meaningful films like ‘3 Idiots’ and ‘Piku'”.
So will he like to feature in Bollywood film?
“I don’t see myself in Bollywood for a while, because I think I’m more useful in Pakistan. If there is ever a joint venture where Pakistan also has a take in the project then, probably yes I would consider it,” said Hamza, who had turned down an offer to feature in Akshay Kumar-starrer “Baby”.
While he has nothing against actors like Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar, who have made their mark in Bollywood, he pointed out at one drawback.
“Our actors become really big in Bollywood and then they become a bit inaccessible and a delicacy for Pakistan,” quipped Hamza.
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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