Entertainment
Indonesians respect Indian actors a lot: Ravi Bhatia
New Delhi : After essaying Salim in the period drama TV show “Jodha Akbar”, actor Ravi Bhatia, who is currently creating waves in Indonesia with TV shows like “Rara Jonggrang” and “Cinta Di Langit Taj Mahal”, says he never felt like an outsider as Indian actors are respected and admired there.
“I never felt like an outsider (in Indonesia). Everyone welcomed me with open arms. People here have a lot of respect and admiration for Indian actors,” Ravi told IANS via e-mail from Indonesia.
The actor says he was over the moon when he got a visa, but on reaching the country, he was “literally scared”.
“To deal with the language barrier, I started learning the Indonesian language. Although I am still not fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, but now I can manage well. Initially, while shooting, I used to say my dialogues in English, but now I try to say it in Indonesian,” he added.
From Bollywood, a string of stars like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan have been seen in international movies, but not many have got an opportunity from the small screen to venture outside Indian shows.
How does it feel to be a rare example?
“If I say I am the only Indian actor who has worked in an Indonesian TV series, then it would be like stealing someone else’s thunder. Shaheer Sheikh became immensely popular here after ‘Mahabharat’ and he is like a superstar here.”
Ravi says that working in Indonesia is a “great opportunity” for him.
Talking about the difference in the work culture between the two countries, Ravi revealed that the small screen industry in Indonesia is “still growing”.
“In India, we work round the clock to meet deadlines, while people in Indonesia are relaxed and calm due to which the stress level is very less. Technically, Indian TV shows are far ahead, and here the TV industry is still growing as far as creativity and technicality are concerned,” he explained.
Ravi also shared that the taste of the audience in Indonesia is the same as Indian viewers when it comes to TV shows. In fact, he said, “the shows in Indonesia are more dramatic”.
What made Ravi say yes to the Indonesian shows?
“I was quite surprised when I came to know that ‘Jodha Akbar’ is very popular in Indonesia. When the show went off air in India, I got a call from Indonesian TV channel ANTV. They asked me whether I was interested in working with them. I was initially confused, but I realised that working in Indonesia would be a great opportunity for me and the money they offered was a cherry on the cake,” 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.
Content provided by Adverloom