Entertainment
‘Thackeray’ Movie Review : Aesthetically presented and convincing
Film: “Thackeray”; Director: Abhijit Panse; Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao, Sudhir Mishra, Abdul Quadir Amin, Radha Sagar, Laxman Singh Rajput; Rating: ***1/2
Director Abhijit Panse’s rendition of this biopic, crafted from Sanjay Raut’s story, spans from 1961 to 1994. It gives us an insight into the life of the late Bal Keshav “Balasahed” Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena and his meteoric rise in Maharashtra’s political space.
Designed as a non-fiction and narrated in a non-linear manner, the film portrays Balasaheb as a caring and considerate family man and upturns many myths while portraying him as the fiery, revolutionary leader, who “has the power to control Bombay” in the times of questionable democracy.
Most of the lines spoken are direct lifts from Balashaheb’s speeches and writings, clearly displaying his presence of mind and how good an orator he was.
The plot is replete with the milestones that occurred during his lifetime, and each event is backed by facts in a cause and effect style, thus making the tale convincing. Despite some blood curdling scenes, you tend to empathise with the titular character and the film does ignite a spirit of linguistic loyalty.
The writing and direction are both shrewd and intelligent. The scenes and their transitions are subtly layered. Cases in point are: When an hoarding of the magazine Marmik (Saamana’s predecessor, meaning straight from the heart) is shifted, a man taking refuge behind it states: “Chaine se sone nahin dete.” In another instance, when a politician is ranting in Parliament about the rise of the Shiv Sainiks, the director dissolves into a shot of dogs barking on a beach – posing the question as to who listens to barking dogs?
The film is Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s canvas and with a near resemblance to the supremo during his younger days, he holds centre screen easily. Though he embodies Balashaheb, he does not manage to not transcend his source material or Balashaheb’s blazing spirit. He is more understated and demure in his disposition.
Amrita Rao is effortlessly convincing as Balasaheb’s wife Meenatai. Prakash Belawadi makes his presence felt in a one-scene role as the fiery trade union leader George Fernandes. The rest of the supporting cast has a strong similarity to the characters they portray.
Aesthetically presented, the film, with its black & white and sepia tinted frames, flawlessly captures the era.
While each moment in the film is simple and realistic and the fluidity of the narrative taut, the end is rather abrupt. But, the promise of a sequel is what keeps the spirits high while leaving the auditorium.
Overall, this film is notches better than any of the previous movies offering a glimpse into Balasaheb’s life.
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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