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‘Guddu Rangeela’ – worthwhile entertainer
Film: “Guddu Rangeela”; Language: Hindi; Cast: Arshad Warsi, Ronit Roy, Amit Sadh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shri Swara, Sandeep Goyat and Dibyendu Bhattacharya; Director: Subhash Kapoor; Rating: ****
While the mere mention of “Guddu Rangeela” conjures the image of a frivolous and frothy tale of two bumpkins, in reality this one is quite a dynamite.
What starts of seemingly as the tale of two small-time musicians with an orchestra in Haryana, Guddu (Amit Sadh) and Rangeela (Arshad Warsi), who are also part-time informants aiding robberies to make a fast buck, unfurls as a layered revenge saga with khap politics as the backdrop.
While Guddu is always aspiring to strike it big, Rangeela is principled, even if he indulges in petty crime. His single-handed motive is to collect money to pay his lawyer for a case he has been fighting for the past ten years. Again, it is only to earn a large sum of money quickly, that he agrees to kidnap Baby (Aditi Rao Hydari) and that too because he is in the dark about the real purpose behind it.
A sound and nuanced screenplay with well-etched characters, Guddu Rangeela is a ‘paisa vasool’ (worth the money) entertainer, with social messages, action, drama and humour in abundance. The dialogues are sharp, hard-hitting and witty, laced with the right amount of humour, albeit in the Haryanvi dialect.
Amit Sadh as the jovial, flirtatious and ambitious Guddu, brings the right amount of energy and realism to his character, playing his role with convivial ease and flourish. He is the perfect complement to his cousin Rangeela on screen.
Arshad Warsi as Rangeela, is in full form after a long time and an absolute treat to watch. His entry with the famous song, “Kal raat Mata ka mujhe email aaya hai” seems a tad frivolous, but his character blossoms into a well-rounded one, as his story is unravelled. Humour, action and emotions, Arshad as Rangeela is always in command and has the audience one with him in empathy.
Ronit Roy as the powerful and corrupt self-proclaimed muscleman Billu Pehalwan portrays his character effortlessly with the right degree of rugged ruthlessness.
Aditi Rao Hydari unfortunately pales in comparison to these three actors. She is convincing, but does not render a powerful performance.
Some of the lesser known actors who essay the characters of ‘Bangali’ the Informer, the police inspector and his aide, light up the screen with their brilliant performances. The antakshari scene with the constable outside the bathroom, is nothing short of absolute talent, proving that an actor needs only one scene to shine.
The background score by Hitesh Sonik and music by Amit Trivedi enhance the flavour of the film. The lyrics, are not only poetry, but enmeshed with humour too, capture the essence of the film’s setting so aptly.
The cinematography by Jamie Fowlds is smooth and picture perfect and can’t go unnoticed.
Quality writing apart, Subhash Kapoor’s direction exudes intelligence and maturity. His astute handling of a complex drama, with strong messages, camouflaged in entertainment, is extraordinary. There is never a dull moment and the script is crisp and well-contained.
It is after a long time that one witnesses action scenes which are engaging and not merely technically-sound and robotic. You feel for the characters and long for the villain to be punished.
Big surprises come in small packages, and “Guddu Rangeela” is easily one of the best ones in the first half of this year. Watch this one and treat yourself to a good film.
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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