Entertainment
Fame has not changed Santhanam: Rambala
Chennai : Director Rambala, who was instrumental in shaping the career of actor Santhanam via television comedy series “Lollu Sabha”, says fame has not changed his erstwhile protege with whom he has teamed up for forthcoming Tamil horror comedy “Dhilukku Dhuddu”.
“I’ve known him for 15 years. Despite his phenomenal rise as an actor, nothing about him has changed. Thanks to his helping tendency, so many artistes from ‘Lollu Sabha’ have been employed on this project. I take pride in being known as his guru,” Rambala told IANS.
Santhanam’s helpful nature paved way to “Dhilukku Dhuddu”, which releases in cinemas on Thursday.
“In 2013, I was approached by a producer with an offer. Apparently, another director who worked for 20 days on the project left unannounced and the producer wanted me to fill his position. I wanted to hire a new set of actors, but the producer was not happy with the idea. Eventually, we had a fallout and I left the project,” he said.
Around the same time, Rambala met Santhanam and explained his situation.
“I readied another script for Santhanam, which he liked and immediately gave his consent to work together. Since we have known each other for a long time, he wanted to give me the perfect launchpad, and hence, spoke to producer Murali and brought Sri Thenandal Films on board,” he said.
Tipped to be a spoof on horror comedies, the film also stars newbie Shanaya, apart from Saurabh Shukla and Yogi Babu.
“Most horror films are about haunted mansions, revenge and some humour. We have attempted something different within the horror space and we believe audiences will appreciate it. This is a horror film with a twist,” he added.
Going by the promos, Santhanam’s makeover will be much talked about. And Rambala nods in agreement.
“So far in his acting career, he has always been seen sporting a clean shaven look and wearing any costume that he would be handed over. I wanted to break that monotony, and therefore, suggested a complete makeover for Santhanam,” he said.
Santhanam was excited to experiment with his looks.
“He has always been willing to try different things. We wanted him to have a rugged look, so we made him grow beard like Virat Kohli. We hired a costume designer and gave him a stylish makeover. He even wore suits,” he said, adding the film explores a different dimension of Santhanam.
“All those who have watched Santhanam so far and have created an image about him are in for a pleasant surprise. He will stun audiences in dance and action sequences. In one of the action scenes, Santhanam fights in his suit and it will be a treat to watch,” he said.
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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