Entertainment
Small films also deserve importance: Manoj Bajpayee
New Delhi: Often slotted as an intense and serious artiste, acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee is content with the co-existence of all genres in Indian cinema, but says smaller films still need to be granted the importance they deserve.
“The good thing happening nowadays is the co-existence of all kinds of genre in cinema. Whether it is completely commercial, niche or middle of the road, all kind of films are being made and most of them are finding a release. This is a fantastic co-existence,” Manoj told.
He, however, he stressed that the film industry “needs to work little extra on small films”.
“Theatre owners start giving them (smaller) less importance when there is some big film coming, and this shouldn’t happen. We should be in favour of the right of small films too,” added the actor, who has starred in movies like “Zubeida” and “Pinjar” as well as ensemble cast movies like “Raajneeti”, “Aarakshan” and “Gangs Of Wasseypur”.
Manoj, who started his career with a television serial “Swabhimaan” and later went on to do small roles in films like “Dastak” and “Bandit Queen”, got his big break in the 1998 crime film “Satya”. He even won a National Film Award for his role as Bhiku Mhatre.
He was last seen in “Tevar” and is currently working on his next film titled “Traffic”, the Hindi adaptation of the eponymous critically acclaimed Malayalam blockbuster.
Based on a true life incident of organ donation, the film also features Jimmy Shergill, Bengali superstar Prosenjit, Parambrata, Divya Dutta, Kitu Gidwani and Sachin Khedekar playing pivotal roles.
The film has been directed by Rajesh Pillai, who helmed the original movie in Malayalam.
Manoj, who plays a traffic policeman in the film, says it’s a unique thriller.
“It moves through a great speed and that is the quality which made me say ‘yes’ to this. Also, the character is something that people have never seen me playing before,” said the actor, who added that his research for the role was “either available with the director or with Google”.
Apart from his acting projects, Manoj has also co-produced a film titled “Missing”. Asked if he plans to produce a film in the near furture, he said that these are “hard jobs.”
“It’s a thankless job too. At the end of the day, nobody is thankful of taking really good care of themm, so it’s a thankless job. But I enjoyed being part of the production because I like taking responsibilities and I am open about it. I have to wait for another great film,” he added.
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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