Entertainment
‘Udta Punjab’ fails to fly high at box office on first day
Mumbai:After its long tussle with the censor board, “Udta Punjab” opened at the theatres on Friday to a lukewarm response, especially in single-screen cinema halls. But the controversial film appears to have left an impression on the minds of moviegoers.
The initial response of the film, which addresses the issue of drug menace in Punjab, left the distributors disappointed on Day One, despite the controversy. The film has done relatively well in multi-plexes.
“The opening is just average and I think the film will just collect about Rs.8 to 9 crore on its first day, which is below our expectation. The opening has certainly not been encouraging considering the controversy,” distributor Rajesh Thadani told IANS.
The film, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh, got a wide release in around 2,000 screens.
Thadani added: “The film has not opened well in single screens and even in multiplexes, the film has opened well just in a few pockets.”
“Considering the controversies there were more expectation from the film in terms of its box office opening but strangely the numbers are not really encouraging,” he said.
The film’s release was beset with trouble after the Central Board of Film Certification first suggested 89 cuts, but later the Revising Committee asked for 13 cuts.
The makers moved the Bombay High Court which on Monday overruled the CBFC-recommended cuts and cleared it for release with just one cut and three disclaimers by the filmmakers.
The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for its release after it refused to block a Bombay High Court order allowing its release. The Punjab and Haryana High Court also dismissed petitions seeking a stay on it.
However, its troubles didn’t end there. The film was leaked online before its official release, with co-producer Anurag Kashyap hinting at “vested interests” behind the online leak.
The film tries to bring out how the high of drugs is engulfing the younger generation in the northern state of Punjab.
A film distributor from Punjab, Surendra Saluja told IANS: “The opening shows were not that great but the next shows went houseful.”
Saluja said: “Now most of the shows are houseful in multiplexes but there is a major drop in single screens.”
According to Manoj Desai, Executive Director of Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir Cinema, “Udta Punjab” turned out to be a major let down at single screen theatre.
“The opening has been around 50 per cent. It’s a major let down. Most of them have even walked out of the film during interval. I don’t think the film will pick up in the single screens,” Desai said.
The distributors might not be elated with the initial response, but movie-goers have been full of praise about the Abhishek Chaubey directorial.
Young movie-buffs, after watching the film, told reporters, “I don’t know why CBFC was against the release of the film,” while another said that the “film was brilliant with great performances by Alia and Shahid”.
The film has elicited positive response from the critics as well. Rajeev Masand said that “It is not a great movie but gives a sense of reality”, while film expert Anupama Chopra tweeted that “In ‘Udta Punjab’, fact meets fiction seamlessly. The film must be seen.”
CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani also wished success for the makers of “Udta Punjab”.
He told reporters: “My well wishes are with the makers and the producers of ‘Udta Punjab’. I hope it gets great success.”
The film is co-produced by Phanton Films and Balaji Motion Pictures.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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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