iWorld
Sony LIV to exclusively premiere ‘Hawa’ and ‘Saturday Afternoon’ in partnership with Reliance Entertainment and Continental Entertainment PTE Ltd
Mumbai: Reliance Entertainment and Continental Entertainment PTE Ltd. (CEPL) are thrilled to announce its collaboration with Sony LIV for the exclusive streaming rights of two highly acclaimed films, ‘Hawa’ and ‘Saturday Afternoon’.
Directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, ‘Hawa’ is a groundbreaking film that has revolutionized the Bangladeshi film industry. “Hawa” was Bangladesh’s official entry to the 95th Academy Awards and the highest grosser ever in Bangladesh. After its tremendous success in Bangladesh, ‘Hawa’ will exclusively be available for audiences worldwide on Sony LIV from 7 July.
Directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Saturday Afternoon’s unique narrative explores the aftermath of an unprecedented attack that unfolds in a peaceful café. The film unravels the clashes and contradictions of ideology and civilization through a drama shot in a single take.
Sony LIV head of content Saugata Mukherjee said, “We are delighted to partner with Reliance Entertainment and CEPL to bring ‘Hawa’ and ‘Saturday Afternoon’ to our viewers. These two captivating films add to our already sparkling roster of thought-provoking cinema from different parts of India and the globe. At Sony LIV, we remain committed to delivering compelling content and being the home for the most exciting voices from across the world.”
Commenting on this collaboration, CEPL CEO (South-East Asia) Sreyashii Sengupta said, “This collaboration with Sony LIV and Reliance Entertainment to showcase ‘Hawa’ and ‘Saturday Afternoon’ is a beginning of slew of films from South Asia for us at CEPL and furthering cross border distribution models and accessibility of content. A wider audience in India will now enjoy diverse films from Bangladesh which have gripping stories and reflect the different genres of film making from a variety of directors. We believe that this partnership will create a significant impact on the film industry and contribute to fostering cultural exchange.”
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
