Entertainment
‘Missing’ will shock, stun audiences: Manoj Bajpayee
By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, March 25 (IANS) Actor Manoj Bajpayee is confident his next release “Missing”, which unites the actor with one of his favourite co-stars Tabu, will leave the audience shocked.
“We worked together in Hansal Mehta’s ‘Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar’ and Akash Deep’s ‘Ghaat’ many years ago. Now I can say we’ve finally done another film together that does justice to her talent, and the talent of Annu Kapoor. ‘Missing’ is basically about three characters played by three of us actors,” said Manoj.
“I am never satisfied with my own performances. There’s always a hunger… That’s why I am led to new directors. Mukul Abhyankar, who directed ‘Missing’ shocked me, as he will shock audiences. He was constantly excited about the scenes we shot every day.
“He would call up at the end of the day and say, ‘Sir, yeh aapne kaise kiya?’ I did, because you give. An actor needs a director and co-stars who inspire him. I got both in ‘Missing’.”
About the secrecy and the sudden decision to release “Missing” alongside several other films on April 6, Manoj said: “Firstly, the decision is not sudden. We decided April 6 was the correct date when there is no big release. Also, we wanted to keep the release date a secret as long as possible because we did not want to do too much media interaction on ‘Missing’.”
Missing out the media interaction on “Missing”… Why?
“This is a suspense film in the truest sense. Every twist and turn in the plot is crucial. We can’t give any of it away. I never knew it was so difficult to promote a suspense film. I know the media will ask us questions about the plot and one of us will blurt out something that will give away the suspense. I’ve never been more scared of promoting any of my films.”
Manoj said preparing a trailer was a killer.
“We had to be careful with every frame because almost frame has a suspense element. I can’t tell you anything about my character because I may give away the plot. All I can say is all three of us Tabu, Annu Kapoor and I seldom had a chance to give so much of ourselves to a film.”
One would be thinking that Manoj would be sulking about the failure of his last release “Aiyaary”. But no.
“I’m very proud of ‘Aiyaary’. According to me, it is Neeraj Pandey’s most accomplished work and one of my most satisfying performances. It suffered because of the relentless back-and-forth with the release date. Anyway I’ve put it behind me now. An artiste can’t shed tears over what is gone.
“Luckily, for me there is always the next challenge.”
–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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