Entertainment
‘Vodka Diaries’: A miserable downer (IANS Review, Rating: *1/2)
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Vodka Diaries”; Director: Kushal Srivastava; Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Mandira Bedi, Raima Sen and Rishi Bhutani; Rating: *1/2
“Vodka Diaries” conjures a visual of some intoxicating secrets. But alas, the title is a forced misnomer. In fact, it is a corny psychological drama that’s mounted on an equally convoluted plot.
Crime and poetry are married in the form of ACP Ashwini Dixit (Kay Kay Menon) and an amateur poet Shikha (Mandira Bedi). They are holidaying together in picturesque Manali.
The setting makes for a perfect romantic break, except that the couple’s holiday is punctuated with mysterious murders that need to be solved. While that’s the impression one gets in the first act, the second act totally topples the first with the resurrection of the dead. And the third act turns out to be a redemption tale.
With writing credits given to four writers, the writing and execution of the film is its Waterloo. The dialogues are cheesy and the screenplay weak. The first 15 minutes of the narrative meanders with poetry and random conversation, except for an insert that informs us about a recurring nightmare that Ashwini gets.
What follows is, the murder of five people. Every death is linked to the shady hotel in a town called Vodka Diaries. And after the disappearance of Shikha, when Ashiwini visits the hotel, he finds the other victims present and you realise this film is more than a murder mystery.
The performances of every actor seems staged and tedious to watch. Talent is definitely wasted here.
Ace actors like Kay Kay Menon and Sharib Hashmi who plays Ashiwini’s faithful lackey Ankit, are relegated to doing the mundane act, which they do with aplomb. But unfortunately it simply seems like they are sleepwalking through their roles. So are Mandira Bedi as Shikha and Raima Sen as the mysterious woman Roshni Banerjee, who later has a meaningful justification for her character.
Mounted with moderate production values, the production designs are appropriate and realistic. The visuals through Maneesh Chandra Bhatt’s lens are clear and sharp but Aalaap Majgavkar’s editing is a bit slack. The transitions in certain scenes are clumsily handled.
Harry Anand and Sandesh Shandilya’s music and background score are exceedingly blaring and jarring.
Overall, “Vodka Diaries”, which is supposed to be a layered tale, is a miserable downer.
–IANS
troy/rb/dg
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
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
