Entertainment
Raja Krishna Menon keen to work with Ranbir, but hasn’t signed him
Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS) Film director Raja Krishna Menon finds Ranbir Kapoor to be an “interesting actor”, but says he hasn’t signed him or anyone yet for his next thriller drama.
Rumours were rife that Menon has approached Ranbir for his next film.
Asked about it, Menon told IANS: “I have not signed Ranbir, neither have I even met him. Yes, we were supposed to meet for a coffee. I think he is a wonderful actor. But anyway, that did not happen because we both got busy. The rest is all speculation.”
Is he considering Ranbir for the script?
Menon said: “Well, so far, I have not considered anyone. I just finished writing the script a few days ago. However, I would love to work with Ranbir because he is an interesting actor. But both should mutually find the right script for that.”
His last release “Chef”, the Indian remake of the eponymous American film, received positive reviews but it did not reflect at the box office.
“You know, it is interesting how the film is doing so well on the digital platform now. I think we failed to target our potential audience. The story of the film was different; it was a journey and relationship between father and son. I am glad for all the appreciation that it has received,” Menon said.
Before “Chef”, Menon had made “Airlift” on a real life incident of evacuation of Indians from Kuwait.
“I think working on real life incidents has more responsibility, whereas fictional story has creative challenges as it comes from imagination and does not exist in reality,” he said.
So, is his upcoming project an amalgamation of both?
“I am honestly speaking, I get confused by genre these days. Yes, it is a fictional story, it has elements of drama and thriller both. So, we can call it a thriller drama.”
–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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