Entertainment
Reformed criminals must get a chance, says Farhan Akhtar (IANS Interview)
By Arundhuti Banerjee
Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS) Reformed criminals must be given a chance to start their lives afresh, says multi-talented Bollywood celebrity Farhan Akhtar, who essays the role of a prisoner in his latest film “Lucknow Central”.
The movie, which released on Friday, is the tale of four prisoners who form a music band.
Farhan, who also sings in real life, is of the opinion that criminals, if reformed, must be accepted in society once they are out of the prison.
Asked if, as an individual, he would be open to employing a former prisoner in his company, Farhan told IANS here: “Well, we have to look at the larger picture. Yes, tomorrow if you are introducing me to someone saying he is looking for a job and had a criminal record, for a moment I might sit back and the thought might cross my mind that he was a criminal; I think that is only human.
“But we have to look at the larger picture for the betterment of our society. According to our laws, a person who commits a crime, goes to jail and, based on the severity and brutality of his crime, he serves a sentence — and comes out as a reformed individual.
“We have to understand they are all normal people and that the crime (may have) happened in a moment of madness. So, accepting these people in the mainstream of society could inspire many not to attempt crime and we can build a better society.”
There are prisons which give vocational training to prisoners, and Farhan feels what they learn must be put to better use.
“If we create a system where we give criminals a chance in jail to be trained in different vocational activities — whether it is music, art, theatre or handicraft… then it makes complete sense that we should accept them back with their skill, as a reformed individual,” added Farhan.
The film, helmed by Ranjit Tiwari, features actors like Diana Penty, Gippy Grewal, Rajesh Sharma, Inaamulhaq, Ravi Kishen, Ronit Roy and Deepak Dobriyal.
Music is one of the common threads between Gippy and Farhan, but the rest of the actors have diverse backgrounds.
Farhan said the creative collaboration was quite easy.
“The best part is that they came not just from different creative backgrounds but also from different parts of the country. While Rajesh Sharma is renowned in Kolkata’s theatre world, Ravi Kishen stars in Bhojpuri films, Gippy is into Punjabi film and music, Deepak and Inaamulhaq are extremely good performers.
“So when you are performing with them, you also have to be on the top of your game. I think that is why the whole filming process was so exciting,” shared Farhan.
(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)
–IANS
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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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