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‘Mohenjo Daro’: Magnum opus that leaves you wanting
Film: “Mohenjo Daro”; Director: Ashutosh Gowariker; Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi, Arunoday Singh, Suhasini Mulay, Nitish Bharadwaj and Sharad Kelkar; Rating: ***1/2
Mounted like an epic with elements of romance, state politics and exodus, director Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Mohenjo Daro” is loosely based on historical facts. Yet, the film has nothing to do with the history of the place which was abandoned and termed Mohenjo Daro, which means, mount of the dead, when it was rediscovered in the early 20th century.
With brilliant production values, colossal sets, impressive cinematography and a predictable script, director Ashutosh Gowariker transports you to a small village called Amri which is situated in the northwest region of pre-historic India, in 2016 BC.
Braveheart Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) lives with his aunt and uncle who are indigo cultivators. Fascinated by stories of Mohenjo Daro from traders of the region, Sarman hopes to travel there to sell his wares. And, after much reluctance and warnings, his uncle permits him to travel along with his cousin and aide, Kojo.
Once they land in the gated city of Mohenjo Daro, they are spellbound with the advanced civilisation and the functioning of the state. But soon, they learn that the town is being governed by a wicked, greedy “Pradhan” (head) called Maham (Kabir Bedi) and his equally cruel son Monja (Arunoday Singh).
Sarman decides to head back home, but a chance glimpse of Chaani (Pooja Hegde), the high priest’s daughter, makes him change his mind. His rattled cousin warns him, “Yeh adbhut nagar hai, yahan chand, suraj ka bhi bharosa nahin”.
What unravels during the 155-minute narration, is Sarman’s connection to the land and how he redeems the people from the tyrannical ruler.
The film begins with a promise. But, fifteen minutes into the telling, the narrative loses its lustre, when Gowariker adheres to the star system by focusing the song “Mohenjo Daro” on the stars. And every step forward, you lose heart.
The script follows a formulaic pattern and although it rides on an even keel, it is weak in parts. The screenplay is influenced by numerous historical films and lacks thrilling moments.
Hrithik as usual lives the life of the character he plays. He is flawless with his emotions, dancing and action. Pooja as his love interest is equally impressive. They make an endearing pair.
Kabir Bedi and Arunoday Singh and the rest of the cast play their parts to perfection.
Visually, every frame is like a picture-perfect tableaux that you experience in a magnum opus. The sets are atmospheric and the wide-angle lensing gives the film its added zing.
The climax is adroitly and astutely picturised with brilliant effects. The action sequences too are realistically designed. A.R. Rahman’s music enhances the viewing experience and the dances are brilliantly choreographed. They appear like a narrative in a ballad.
Overall, “Mohenjo Daro” lights up the screen but only if it was crisp and thrilling.
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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