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‘Manikarnika’ looks like bits from a Bhansali product

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By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) Finally it comes. The trailer of the beleaguered historical “Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi” brings to us a furious, ferocious and feral Kangana Ranaut, who tells the ‘gora log’, “We both want Jhansi. But you want to rule. I want to serve.”

Well, precisely. The Rani Of Jhansi was passionately dedicated to her kingdom. I don’t see much of that dedication in the trailer. Much of it is devoted to displaying its leading lady’s skills on horses and with swords. The trailer gives us an epic primer on ‘Kangana Rides The Horse’, ‘Kangana Swats The Enemy’, ‘Kangana Bays For Blood’, so on and so forth.

There is so much of the talented actress’ efforts to appear queenly, the trailer barely offers a glimpse of the impressive supporting cast, namely Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni, Suresh Oberoi and others who flit by in this steamroller view of a woman warrior’s day-out binge. Threadbare thunder in a fancy teacup.

Alarmingly and annoyingly, the film wears a thick and heavy Sanjay Leela Bhansali hangover. In the way the camera zooms in and pans the long stretches of the battle scenes, I was taken back to Bhansali’s “Bajirao Mastani”. In fact one of Kangana’s derring-do in a battle sequence here, she gambols over her army to strike was a move identical to Ranveer Singh’s in “Bajirao Mastani”.

So is Kangana’s Jhansi Ki Rani, Bajirao or Mastani or both?

It’s a highly derivative world created by people who seem to have the resources but not the vision. We could do with a lot more chutzpah when recreating such an important chapter from Indian history.

It’s not all a wash-out, though. Kangana seems to convey sufficient fire and elasticity. Her accent is a downer, though.

This is the way the trailer moves: uplifting one moment down to being a disappointment the next. Let’s hope the film is not as uneven in tone.

–IANS
skj/rb/bg

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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

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.

CasinoDays India

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.

 

CasinoDays India

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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