Entertainment
‘Nirdosh’: A whodunnit befitting the small screen (IANS Review, Rating: **)
By Troy Ribeiro
Film: “Nirdosh”; Directors: Subroto Paul, Pradeep Rangwani; Cast: Manjari Fadnis, Arbaaz Khan, Ashmit Patel, Mahek Chahal, Mukul Dev; Rating: **
“Nirdosh” is a predictable yet engaging whodunnit drama.
Shinaya Grover (Manjari Fadnis) is arrested for the murder of her neighbour Rana (Mukul Dev). Evidence at the crime scene implicates Shinaya. She is arrested and taken to prison. The media and everyone else claim that she has not killed Rana.
Shinaya too cries hoarse, pleading that she is not guilty of the murder. Then steps in Crime Branch officer Lokhande, who, with his cheesy lines, claims that he can prove that Shinaya is the culprit.
The entire second act indulges in investigating the murder mystery. Some truths are exposed. Gautam Grover (Ashmit Patel) — Shinaya’s husband, Ada (Mahek Chahal) — their paying guest, Robin — Ada’s rich boyfriend, Rana’s wife and Raj — his brother-in-law, are all suspects.
In the course of the police interrogations, Ada goes missing and is later found dead. So, to cut a long story short, this is a case of double-murder and the police are hell bent to nail the murderer. Though it is a no-brainer, how Shinaya absolves herself of the crime, forms the crux of the tale.
The performances of the main leads are fairly underrated and perfunctory. Manjari Fadnis as Shinaya is natural and effortless. Mahek Chahal as the aspiring actor Ada adds the glamour quotient while Ashmit Patel is expressionless and Arbaaz Khan is flat toned and uninspiring.
The only actors who breathe life into their characters are Mukul Dev as Rana and the actor who plays Raj. Both with shades of noir to their characters and distinct accents — Rana in Haryanvi and Raj as the Maharashtrian, politically affiliated local hoodlum — make interesting characters and they definitely stand out.
The story written by Amit Khan is a well-etched, run-of-the-mill tale. The writing is simply mediocre and unexciting. But like any crime thriller, you are glued to the screen to unravel the mystery.
The action sequences are well-choreographed, especially the chase scene where the police is chasing Robin. It is like watching a gazelle being chased by a panther.
Despite being mounted with moderate production values, the production quality of the film seems fairly decent.
Overall, “Nirdosh” is a crime drama that is a few notches better than the television crime programmes. However, it does lack depth and finesse.
–IANS
troy/sug/dg
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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