Entertainment
Internationally, Bollywood is seen as a freak show: Ranvir Shorey
By Sandeep Sharma
Dharamsala: Independent films like “Masaan”, “Court”, “Chauthi Koot” and “Titli” have of late made India proud at film festivals globally, but actor Ranvir Shorey says Indian cinema still has a long way to go to make its presence felt since at international platforms mainstream Bollywood films are still considered a “freak show”.
“With the production of such (indie) films, it’s a small step to a great journey that lies ahead of us, because as self-sufficient as Bollywood is on the international platform, it is still seen as some kind of a novelty or a freak show,” Ranvir told on the sidelines of fourth Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF), which opened with his latest release “Titli”.
“When we have films which speak the international language and hold the international grammar of cinema, it affects people and communicates with them worldwide. It’s something which we desperately need as a film industry,” he added.
Released on October 30, “Titli”, helmed by debutant director Kanu Behl, was earlier screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival.
Ranvir, who has impressed critics with his standout starred in films like “Bheja Fry”, “Khosla Ka Ghosla”, “Mithya” and “Gour Hari Dastaan”, feels the recognition has now started coming in.
“We are making some dent now in this period, but still we have some way to go… Internationally, there was a time when Iranian and Korean cinema became a rage of the world cinema, we still need to reach that point where we take the audience of world cinema strongly,” he said.
However, Ranvir rued that films like “Titli”, which was co-produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Dibakar Banerjee, “don’t get support from the big studios”.
“Instead of being backed (whole-heartedly) by Yash Raj Films, our film was released and promoted as a small film, unlike other star-studded films that they produce. We were not given the same resources,” he added.
“Titli”, which delves into the concept of family violence with a heavy use of abuses, was edited by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) because of several cuss words in it. Ranvir says it’s their duty and it’s not that the CBFC wants to evade realism from Hindi cinema.
“I don’t think CBFC tries to stop realism. They have certain reservations about language, profanity and showing nudity and things like those. There should be a board made out of filmmakers, who don’t have any grudges and without any involvement of the government,” said the actor, who has mostly featured in films with offbeat narratives.
Does he stay away from commercial films consciously?
“I don’t avoid doing commercial films. I have done quite a number of commercial films. But what I do look for in a commercial film as well as in an independent film is some kind of honesty in the voice that I get. The audience has a hunger for good content.”
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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