Entertainment
Theatre’s not a stepping stone to Bollywood: Meher Mistry
New Delhi : Meher Mistry walked on to the stage as a ‘desi’ belle and breathed life into the Broadway version of timeless classic “Beauty and the Beast” in India. The theatre artiste, who is enjoying a new lease of fame courtesy the popular musical show, says she is not averse to the idea of entering the Bollywood arena, but will never forget her first love – the stage.
From Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak, Kalki Koechlin to Rajat Kapoor – a lot of actors balance their career in Bollywood as well as stage perfectly. Meher also aims to do so.
Asked about her Bollywood dream, and Meher said that she doesn’t “look at it as a transition at all”.
“I wish to act for as long as I am able to and as long as work comes to me… Yes, I want to work in all mediums but I don’t think like, ‘Now theatre is done, let’s do films’. I love to do camera work. I do wish to do films as well, but I will definitely continue doing theatre,” Meher told IANS on the phone from Mumbai.
Meher, who has been associated with theatre for long and has also featured in a bevy of TV commercials for brands like Amazon India, Havells Appliances, Vasan Eye Care and Pepsodent, added: “I have done a little work on screen in the past and it has been a really amazing experience.
“So I wish to do both… I don’t look at theatre as a stepping stone to get into films.”
Meher caught the attention of many post her stint in the Indian Broadway version, which was brought to India by Disney India last year. It was well received in the country, urging officials at the studio to bring on a second run.
“The show has definitely brought a lot more exposure for me. I have grown so much as an artiste. You are only as good as your last job, so you keep looking for more work and hopefully something new will come,” Meher said.
The story of how a simple girl from a village makes a cursed prince realise the value of inner beauty and helps him break the curse, “Beauty and the Beast” is being brought to life on stage in Mumbai. It will soon travel to Delhi too.
Meher, who takes inspiration from Meryl Streep’s body of work and her craft, says the live entertainment scene has enthused new life to the theatre scene of India.
“I do a lot of theatre mostly and there is a lot of money involved… You do it for the love of it and then you are always looking for other opportunities and ways to make some money. But Disney made it possible for us to devote ourselves to this project.
“I actually felt I was in some other country where it is a full time job. So in that sense, it has opened up that opportunity for actors.”
So, what is lacking from the scene at the moment?
Meher says “money is a bit hard to get, and it is hard to get people who want to invest in the project.”
The artiste, who acted in “Silvat”, a short feature film, is on cloud nine post the success of the musical show. “I couldn’t have asked for a better response… I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
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.
Content provided by Adverloom
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
Lockdowns in China Force Urban Communities to Defy Censorship and Vent Frustration Online
What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
