Entertainment
‘PK’ unconventionally outstanding
Film: “PK”; Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Saurabh Shukla, Boman Irani, Parikshat Shahni; Director: Rajkumar Hirani; Rating: *** 1/2
Aamir Khan’s films always have an element of intrigue and with a team comprising ace director Rajkumar Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the expectations were high. And unquestionably, “PK” scores high on content as well as entertainment.
Packed with lessons galore to debunk the myths of mystical India, “PK” is a satirical-comic drama. With a narrative pivoted on a fantasy premise, the film intrinsically and cleverly weaves fiction and reality.
Enveloped in a romance fraught with misunderstandings between Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) aka Jagat Sahani, an Indian student, and Sarfaraaz Yusuf (Sushant Singh Rajput), a Pakistani living in Belgium, “PK” is the tale of a guy who gets the pseudonym “Peekay” (Aamir), owing to his constant irrelevant questioning and weird dress sense.
“Haame ghar jana hai…” forms the crux of PK’s journey. This plea is metaphorically and figuratively layered with actuality.
What keeps you intently glued are the messages in the right dosages and format in the narrative. They are neither preachy nor overbearing. Though the film talks about god yet the film is not about religion. It is about humanity and how one perceives god.
An unarguably powerful and versatile actor, Aamir adroitly carries the film on his able shoulders. His quirky persona with bulging toad eyes, prosthetic ears and colourful ensemble, add to his controlled and consistent performance. As PK, he indulgently and innocently succeeds in making you think.
Anushka as Jaggu is refreshingly endearing, as well as engaging. She is spirited as a television journalist working for India Now Channel. Boman Irani as her boss delivers a lacklustre performance that is restricted by his on-screen time and role. He offers nothing that is unusual or electrifying.
Sushant has a small, but significant role as Anushka’s love interest, which he portrays convincingly. Sanjay Dutt as Bhairon Singh, who rescues PK in Mandwa, Rajasthan, adds star value to the character.
Saurabh Shukla brings a new and interesting dimension to his Godman Tapasvi Maharaj. Contrary to the clichéd godmen we are used to seeing, Shukla’s flashy flamboyance gives a unique interpretation to his character.
The songs and background score by Ajay Atul, Shantanu Moitra and Ankit Tiwari are artistically amalgamated into the film.
The music – soft and mellifluous – is typical, often heard in most of Chopra’s films. The songs blend seamlessly with the mood and spirit of the narration. The outstanding numbers are “Love is a waste of time” and “Bhagwan hai kahan re tu.” These fit in well as they are situational in nature and hummable too.
Shot in Rajasthan, Delhi and Belgium, the film has cinematographer C.K. Muraleedharan doing full justice to the beautiful natural locales and he has captured them brilliantly. He is equally skilled at projecting the opulent sets and colourful costumes to perfection.
The screenplay by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi is taut and layered. Humour comes astutely in the form of dialogues and situational comedy. What makes it stand apart is that it is neither too dramatic nor over the top.
“PK” is strongly reminiscent of films made in the bygone era and yet has a contemporary relevance to it. This one is a sure shot winner.
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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