Entertainment
Vishesh Bhatt to get back to directing in 2018
By Sugandha Rawal
New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) Mukesh Bhatts son Vishesh made his directorial debut with “Murder 3” in 2013 but then focussed more on production. He says his father has brought back the passion in him to direct a film and he will get back on the directors chair next year.
While he is at it putting together “content-driven” projects together with various filmmakers and writers, Vishesh told IANS in an email interview: “I want to finalise a subject that challenges and excites me to get out and film.
“I have stumbled upon a few good subjects and I am weighing them. I am being encouraged by my peers and my father to direct and I will be seen doing it mostly by 2018-19,” he added.
Vishesh has produced films like “Gangster”, “Jannat: In Search of Heaven…”, “Mr. X”, “Raaz Reboot” and “Begum Jaan”.
On his future projects, he said: “My dad and my uncle (Mahesh Bhatt) are focusing on the ‘Sadak’ sequel. I am in conversation vis-a-vis two film projects and it is very early for me to announce them. But very soon in 2018 these projects will be going on floor.
“There will be feature films, digital films and a couple of web series which will go under production at my end in 2018-19.”
He looks after strategy, content development, creative and digital initiatives at Vishesh Films — which Mukesh Bhatt co-owns with his brother Mahesh Bhatt. The banner launched actors like Rohit Roy, Anu Aggarwal and John Abraham.
Talking about the banner’s business plan, Vishesh said: “A new division of the company is going to focus a lot more on digital content that connects with my generation more.
“The kind of content which travels well, has more sophisticated appeal to it and is high concept in nature. The audience would be the age group below 35 years.
“With the coming of the internet through mobile devices, the audience has become more global in their approach. With Netflix and Amazon coming to India, people are more exposed to a variety of content conveniently. I want to create new genres of content in India as well.”
Vishesh feels the content of Bollywood has changed in “no different way than the pace at which mobile connectivity has come in”.
“The content has evolved and become more urbanised. There has been deeper focus on writers, screenplays and concepts. Also, one positive is we still keep music as a part of our films while saying relevant stories. Now the music blends well into the story compared to earlier times.
“A lot of the content has become more impactful in execution and is being well appreciated by the audience across platforms.
“It is no longer being driven on a set star cast and formula. Everyone is feeling challenged now about the content they need to put out and this new change has brought about a lot of filmmakers and story writers.”
But Vishesh still feels Indian cinema “need more story-tellers and a lot more talent to represent this content”.
He also warned: “The market forces here are frustratingly slow and lack the skills or ability to take ambitious risks with new content and talent to better serve the audience’s choices.
“Their timidity is going to be disastrous for Indian creators in the face of content dumping by the US.
“Our indigenous talent also needs much better encouragement and appreciation from both the media and the government. We need many more theatres and protections for our creative ideas.”
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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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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