Entertainment
Deep-rooted political conspiracy behind ‘Padmaavat’ protests: Benegal
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Jan 26 (IANS) The amazingly prolific and fearless Shyam Benegal definitely sees a deep-rooted political conspiracy in what is happening to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmaavat”.
Benegal had filmed the story of Allauddin Khilji’s violent obsession for Rani Padmavati many years back, and not a stir of protest had happened.
Explains Benegal: “You must understand, this is not an issue of tolerance or intolerance. It is something else entirely.
“I’ve filmed the same saga way back in 1988 for my series ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ on Doordarshan. Om Puri had played Allauddin Khilji.
“The protests have nothing to do with the content of the film.
“I see a deep-rooted political conspiracy in what is happening to Sanjay Bhansali’s film.”
“This is nothing but an attempt to appease the Rajput vote bank. Why are no arrests being made when even school children are being targeted?” Benegal said.
Interestingly, Benegal’s vision of what transpired between Rani Padmini and Khilji was also based on the poem “Padmaavat” by Malik Mohammed Jayasi.
Explains Benegal, “Jayasi’s beautiful 15th century poem is based on the idea of unattainable love. He talks of love as something that can be desired, never fulfilled.
“The poem describes the mad infatuation of Khilji for the Chittoor queen. I was deeply moved by it. We shot the story exactly the way Jayasi described it in his poem.
“In the end Rani Padmavati commits ‘Jauhar’ along with hundreds of followers. I haven’t seen Bhansali’s film. But I presume this is exactly what transpires in it.”
Bhansali was part of the “Padmavati” episode of Benegal’s “Bharat Ek Khoj”.
“Bhansali was an assistant director in my Padmavati episode of ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’. His sister Bela Sehgal and his brother-in-law Deepal Sehgal were also involved with the episode as editors.
“We shot the episode exactly the way it was described in Jayasi’s poem down to the mass jauhar at the end…Now when Sanjay makes a film based on the same poem we have women with swords coming in front of the media threatening to commit jauhar to stop the film…,” Benegal said.
“…My advice to them is, they must carry out their threats in front of live TV cameras. What TRPs that would amass, don’t you think?” said the veteran filmmaker.
On a more serious note, Benegal wonders why the government is silent over these unlawful protests.
“We’ve these strange men with their aggressive demeanour going on national television to issue open threats. The law enforcers know what exactly and who they are.
“Why are they not being arrested even when they openly issue threats against the director and his actors?
Would Benegal hesitate in directing “Padmavati” today?
“Not at all,” comes the prompt answer. “One doesn’t think of these things while making a film. But again I repeat, what is happening to Sanjay Bhansali’s film is no ordinary protest. It is something else, beyond my understanding.”
–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.
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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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