Entertainment
Awards don’t mean anything: Mala Sinha
By Subhash K Jha
Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) Mala Sinha, the legendary-in-her-own-right actress who has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement honour at the Filmfare Awards 2018, is not overjoyed at the belated recognition.
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“Do you know, I’ve never won a Filmfare Award before this? During my heydays, I was nominated several times. In fact, I’d be nominated almost every year during the 1960s. But for reasons unknown to me, the award always went to some other actress,” Mala said.
She recounted that in 1965, she was nominated for two very contrasting roles in “Jahan Ara” and “Himalay Ki God Mein”.
“The then-editor of Filmfare B.K. Karanjia told me to come for the function as I was the most likely winner for either of my performances. I excitedly got up in the morning to put together my clothes and accessories. But when it came to getting the award in the evening, it went to Vyjayanthimalaji for ‘Sangam’.
“Another time, another year again, I was told by Karanjia saab that I was likely to be awarded for ‘Bahurani’. But the award went to Meenaji (Meena Kumari) for ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam”.”
Mala says it is not as though she has lost faith in the awards in recent times.
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“It was always like that. My best performances in films like ‘Dharmputra’, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (where I played an unwed mother), ‘Gumrah’, ‘Bahurani’ and ‘Jahan Ara’ were never recognized. For Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyaasa’, my difficult role of a girl who sacrifices love for financial security in her marriage, was ignored as a ‘negative’ character.
“My reward came many years later when Mahesh Bhatt saab praised me in ‘Pyaasa’ for conveying so many emotions through my eyes.”
The actress feels she has always been given a raw deal in the hall of recognition. But she says she feels no regret for having failed to get awards during her career.
“Nowadays, there are at least 10 to 12 awards functions. They mean nothing. Even when awards meant something, they were manipulated. My Baba (father) always told me, I should be happy with the recognition and fame that I get. I never wooed the awards or asked journalists to write about me. I never knew how to do my own promotion. Maybe that’s why I got left behind.”
Not that Mala is not happy about being recognized for her work.
“Der aaye durust aaye (better late than never). I wanted to say this in my thank you speech for the Filmfare Award for lifetime achievement which I finally got after actors and actresses who came much after me, got it. I have been working since 1957. Actresses who came long after me were given the Lifetime Achievement award much before me.
“Thankfully, they thought of me while I am still alive. And I’m grateful to have got it. But I still wonder why I was never recognized for my best performances. Was I not as good as my contemporaries?”
–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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