Entertainment
No hard and fast rules in the pursuit of art: Om Puri
Mumbai: Veteran actor Om Puri, who has carved out his own niche in the entertainment industry in his over four-decade long career, feels there isn’t any “hard and fast” rule to gain success in showbiz.
Om Puri has supported casting director Manoj Ramola’s new book “Audition Room”, which provides an in-depth understanding of the glamour world for budding actors. He says an effort of this kind will help aspiring actors get a clear view of the entertainment industry.
“When most youngsters come to this town pursuing their dream, they often don’t know what to expect and how to go about it. For many reasons, more lies and half truths are floating around and very few facts,” Puri said in a statement.
“’Audition Room’ is a refreshing step. It is nice to have a book that can provide some guidance to people giving out clarity on approach and squashing some myths along the way.”
“There are no hard and fast rules in the pursuit of art but some guidance is always welcome,” he added.
The “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” star also said that it is “tougher for the young girls who come to the film industry” as they are looked upon as “easy targets to be lured”.
“I am not saying that the entire industry is like this, but then there are a few people who are perhaps not even a part of this industry who will show off contacts here and there to mislead these girls. A book like this will guide these girls in a proper manner and they will be better prepared to face challenges,” he said.
“Audition Room”, which is now available on various online portals, explores the details of how acting is one of the aspects that is needed in an audition room. The book is not meant to teach acting, it is rather the process of utilising the skill set one possesses to bag the role.
“The only aspect of casting that ever makes it to mainstream media is the ‘couch’. I want to educate people that there is so much more to it. Casting is a skill set by itself,” Ramola, who has worked as casting director for shows like “Savdhaan India” and “Crime Patrol”, said.
“This is why I have often seen people who are good actors not get the role, wherein relatively mediocre actor who understands the process and the brief bag the role.”
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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