Entertainment
‘Padmaavat’ zooms past Rs 100 cr in opening weekend
Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS) Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmaavat” has marched past the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office in its opening weekend, bringing cheer to the Bollywood cash registers despite facing a long period of struggle for release.
According to Viacom18 Motion Pictures, one of the banners behind the period drama, “Padmaavat” made a total of Rs 114 crore by January 28 after releasing on January 25 across 4,000 screens in India.
It hit the screens a day before the Republic Day holiday, but paid previews on January 24 had given its earnings a jump-start of Rs 5 crore. This was followed by Rs 19 crore on January 25, Rs 32 crore on January 26 and Rs 27 crore on January 27 and Rs 31 crore on January 28.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted: “Protests… Disturbances… No screening in few states… Yet, ‘Padmaavat’ does excellent business in its extended weekend. The film lost out on substantial business (approximately Rs 35 crore to Rs 37 crore), but the superb trending in other circuits helped put up a majestic total.”
“Padmaavat”, based on 16th century poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s poem “Padmavat”, was caught in a row after protests from Shri Rajput Karni Sena which contended that it distorts historical facts and dents the pride of the Rajput community.
As a result of the ensuing violence, the movie did not release in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh as well as in some theatres across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
It has received mixed reviews, with some appreciating the movie for its visual brilliance and impeccable performances, while some slamming it for glorifying the practice of Jauhar (self-immolation) and for showcasing Alauddin Khilji as demon-like.
The film’s cast — Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor — are on a high after receiving positive reviews.
“Padmaavat” is even doing well in the US as well as in Pakistan. However, in Malaysia, the film has reportedly been barred from release over “sensitivities of Islam”.
–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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