Entertainment
Bollywood sans song and dance will become like Hollywood: Farah Khan
New Delhi: She has regaled Bollywood audiences with beautiful song-and-dance sequences in her larger-than-life movies. Which was why filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan feels sad that people nowadays tend to look down upon such routines in Hindi cinema. For long, Bollywood has been associated with actors dancing in sync with the film’s songs. But if we go by the recent releases, like “Phobia”, “Akira” and even the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Dear Zindagi”, song and dance sequences seem to be fading away.
Farah, who has choreographed dance routines for more than 100 songs in over 80 Hindi films, says these are what international audiences associate with Bollywood. “In a way, I feel sad that people tend to look down upon our song-and-dance (sequences) because I genuinely believe those are what make Bollywood what it is internationally,” Farah told in an interview.
“That is our forte and that is our strength. That we have music in our movies and we have songs and celebrate dancing and colour,” the 51-year-old said. Farah, who has choreographed legendary actor Jackie Chan in the upcoming Sino-Indian film “Kung Fu Yoga”, says that if these elements disappear, Hollywood will take over. “If that goes away, which I have been saying, it is going to be… Hollywood will come and take over, which is happening now in any case. ‘The Jungle Book’ is doing better than any other Hindi movie released. So that, I think, we should not lose,” she said.
Farah has been a part of the industry for over two decades and has choreographed hit films like “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, “Dil Chahta Hai” and “Dilwale”. She ventured into direction in 2004 with the film “Main Hoon Na”, starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan. She later directed films like “Om Shanti Om”, “Tees Maar Khan” and “Happy New Year”.
Asked if the content of films has evolved over the years, she said: “Our audience has evolved. And, yes, there are a lot of films today that I don’t think 10 years ago would have done well or got made. “So, yes, there are a lot of films that I watch and say ‘Arrey yeh film chal gayi’ (‘Oh this film worked’) because it is good that people liked it… there are regular movies that come and go and some that do well.” Farah is happy that the audience is wanting new things. “What is good is that people want new things now at all times because there is so much content available on the digital platform that they will not take the same thing (again),” she added.
She will soon be seen judging Sony Entertainment Television channel’s ninth season of the singing reality show “Indian Idol”. Is she keen to direct a TV show? “It is much tougher than directing a film. It is far tougher because the timings are like outrageous for television. So, I don’t think I can give that time right now. Maybe a web series or something later on, but television and that too a daily television (show)… no chance,” she said.
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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