Entertainment
Irrfan, Kangana to work together in film on Begum Akhtar?
New Delhi: Music aficionados and Bollywood fanatics will soon witness the life and times of renowned ghazal and thumri singer Begum Akhtar on the big screen in “Ae Mohabbat” and if things go as planned, actors Irrfan Khan and Kangana Ranaut could be seen together onscreen for the first time.
Shri Anup Jalota Productions and Ae Mohabbat Productions on Tuesday announced the film on the life and times of Begum Akhtar, also the recipient of Padmabhushan and an icon of Indian classical music.
Directed by noted filmmaker Ketan Mehta, the film will have actor Irrfan Khan in the main lead with Oscar winner A.R Rahman giving the music of the film. Although the female lead if yet to be finalised but Kangana might end up doing the project.
“We are trying to get Kangana Ranaut to play one of the stages of Begum Akhatar in the film,” Jalota told IANS when asked about the female lead for the film.
“We have grown up listening to and idolising Begum Akhtar. I have been wanting to intiate such project and a tie up with Ae Mohabbat Productions and associating with Rita Ganguly who knew her personally, is a real blessing,” he added.
Ganguly, who used to be student of Begum Akhtar and calls her “Ammi” says that noted singer’s life, the highs and lows, the times she lived in, her personality and professional life had a cinematic quality which can be made into full-length feature film.
“It is not really a biopic but a feature film. The screenplay is ready and it will have full formula of a superhit film . We are planning to release it next year as its a period film and lot goes behind making such projects,” Ganguly told IANS.
As Begum Akhtar hailed from Faizabad and is buried in Lucknow, the film also got the support from Uttar Pradesh government, says Jalota.
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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