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‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’: Wedding worth attending
Film: “Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana”; Director: Ratnaa Sinha; Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Kriti Kharbanda, Govind Namdeo, Navni Parihar, Manoj Pahwa and KK Raina, Rating: ***
Set against the backdrop of Kanpur, “Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana” is a love story of Satyendra aka Sattu (Rajkummar Rao), a clerk in a government office and Aarti (Kriti Kharbanda), a bright ambitious girl who aspires to become a government officer, but is not encouraged by her father to study too much.
How the couple meet for a proposed marriage alliance, fall in love and yet, end up not getting married owing to an unexpected event on their wedding day, forms the crux of the story.
Narrated in a linear manner, the film is quite straightforward and it is undoubtedly in the second half, with the unusual twist at half time, that the plot gets intriguing. The first half showcases how they meet to please their parents, but owing to their similar thinking, hit it off well and fall in love.
The writing, like the plot, is simple and uncomplicated. It is the performances by the entire case that keep you riveted to the screen.
Save the scene in the second half where Satyendra, a deputy magistrate himself, goes to Aarti’s house with a search warrant and turns the house topsy-turvy, which appears a bit far-fetched, the characters are well-etched and believable.
Director Ratnaa Sinha effectively recreates the milieu where clearing Civil Services exams, are given importance and a government job is considered the ultimate achievement. The dreams and aspirations of the members of both families – Shuklas and Mishras – their middle class concerns about dowry, not educating daughters too much and getting them married on time, are real and palpable.
Rajkummar Rao as Satyendra, the simple and well-mannered boy from a middle class family who loses his heart to Aarti and dreams about a happy life with her, is endearing from the word go. He slips into the character, complete with his rustic accent, shy demeanour and unambitious nature. The contrast, post interval, is thus even more praiseworthy when he transforms into a supposedly ruthless, revengeful human being, devoid of feelings.
Kriti Kharbanda as the effervescent and ambitious Aarti packs a punch in her performance and meets Rajkummar Rao shoulder-to-shoulder in every scene. Be it her euphoria of being in love or the devastation upon being accused, she is convincing and you empathise with her.
All the character actors contribute in large measure in making this film come alive. Each one delivers a strong performance. Particularly noteworthy is the actor playing her sister, who eggs her on to live her dreams and not become a mere housewife.
Govind Namdeo as Aarti’s strict but affectionate father is a treat to watch, and veteran actor KK Raina touches the right chord in the scene where he breaks down upon his son’s marriage being called off.
The production values are moderate, but seem apt in a film of this setting. Nothing seems incongruous.
The music is melodious and captures the essence of the romance in the first half and the anguish in the second, with accuracy. “Tu banja gali Banaras ki” and “Mera Intekam dekhegi” are worth a mention.
Overall, this simple love story with stellar performances, garbed with some hard-hitting issues of our society, is a treat to watch. A wedding worth attending, for sure.
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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