Entertainment
‘Rukh’: Riveting with fine performances (IANS Review, Rating: ***)
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Rukh”; Director: Atanu Mukherjee; Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Adarsh Gourav, Smita Tambe, Kumud Mishra; Rating: ***
Rukh, which means direction, has been astutely used as a metaphor in debutant director Atanu Mukherjee’s film.
But, on the face of it, the film is about a son’s quest to know the truth about his father’s death. It is his internal journey.
Three years after being rusticated from his school for ruthlessly injuring his classmate, Dhruv Mathur finds himself at a loose end when he hears of his father’s accident and subsequent death. Not that he has a strong bond with his father, but then how the death and accident is hushed up by everyone, including his mother is what makes him and the audience curious.
Following his own instincts, Dhruv tries to investigate his father Diwakar’s accident and in the process, he comes across some home truths; that his father was “a good man, a man of his word,” and that he was under pressure for want of funds because his best friend and business partner Robin (Kumud Mishra) had betrayed him.
Now that Robin is trying to frame his dead father in a money laundering scam, makes him assume that his father’s accident was staged and that he was actually murdered. With this preconceived notion, he sets out on a journey of redemption and self-reconciliation.
Set in a melancholic tone, “Rukh” excels as a fine example of a neo-realism film. It subtly captures the time and the current political scenario with flourish. But the screenplay by Akash Mohimen and Atanu Mukherjee, falls short in its endeavour as it pursues to convert the drama into a mystery thriller. The wrinkles in the mystery quotient seem forced and is probably what sets in the irritant factor.
But what makes the film fulfilling are the performances. Manoj Bajpayee is too passive a character to leave much of an impression. But he leaves his mark in a scene opposite Kumud Mishra, who plays Robin, where both of them accuse each other of extracting their pound of flesh.
Kumud is a charismatic actor, but as the slimy Robin, he is deadpan, yet effective. Smita Tambe as Nandini, Dhruv’s mother, is realistic and relatable.
Adarsh Gourav is a compelling actor. He portrays Dhruv’s anguish and anger with flourish, while being obsessed with unearthing the mystery shrouding his father’s death. Those are the only two emotions the script allows him to display. His backstory seems forced, just inserted in a formulaic fashion to build his character.
The others in the supporting cast like Jayant – Diwakar’s accountant, Hassan and Shinde – Diwakar’s labourers and Amit – Dhruv’s friend, have their moments of on screen glory. Each one of them is natural and they standout for their soulful delivery.
On the technical front, the production design is simply realistic and awe-inspiring. Pooja Gupte’s camera work seems to be non-intrusive making the entire viewing experience natural.
The two songs, “Hai Baaki” and “Khidki”, along with the background score by Anjo John, merge well with the narrative elevating the viewing experience.
Overall, despite a few blemishes, “Rukh” is a film that keeps you riveted.
–IANS
troy/rb/bg
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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