iWorld
As ‘Dil Se Desi’ as you are:ZEE5 kicks off its international launch with a campaign that will touch a chord with the South Asian diaspora
MUMBAI: The traditional Mehndi is replaced by a funky henna tattoo; Payals (anklets) are paired with stilettos, and rapreplaces classicalas the new embraces the old – in its own inimitable style. Upping the cool quotient of ‘Desi’ by several notchesand capturing the essence of ‘Desi’ pride; the strong sense of belonging and connect with one’s roots felt by every South Asian living abroad, ZEE5 todaylaunched its global campaign‘Dil Se Desi’, officially marking the digital platforms’entry into the International market.
An ode to Indians and South Asians around the world, ‘Dil Se Desi’ clearly announces the arrival of ZEE5, the largest, most comprehensive digital entertainment platform for language content, in APAC, Africa and MENA and very soon, in Europe, Canada and Caribbean. It is brought to life in a vibrant TVC that is a celebration of our ‘Desiness’, intricately weaving together our idiosyncrasies with what innately defines us and therefore binds us; our language, our culture and our entertainment.
Commenting on the launch,Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and Z5 Global said, “In the first leg of our international foray, we intend to capture the hearts of South Asians across the globe and I think our campaign, ‘Dil Se Desi’ does this beautifully.“
“Interestingly, both this campaign ‘Dil Se Desi’and the ZEE5 India launch campaign we rolled out in February 2018, ‘ApniBhashaMein Feel Hai’ have their genesis in the same insight; that Indians and indeed South Asians today, irrespective of where they live or how globally connected they are, are fundamentally rooted in their culture and feel a strong sense of pride and belonging. Being ‘Desi’ today has moved from being just cool to being an intrinsic part of one’s identity; and that’s what ZEE5 taps into. The emotion that whoever or whatever I am on the outside, on the inside I am‘Dil Se Desi’and I not only embrace, but celebrate who I am”, saidArchana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global.
It is this celebration that is brought alive in the campaign that’s been painstakingly and jointly crafted by the teams at ZEE5and Publicis Capital. And it is this same celebration that is furthercaptured in the creative rendition #Desi.
Says Archana Anand, “When living in a different country, it’s the language, festivals, food, movies and music that keeps you connected to home and gives you a sense of pride and belonging, and hence ‘Dil Se Desi’. ZEE5 also celebrates this sense of belonging with its all-encompassing focus on languages across both its content and user experience, and is ‘Dil Se Desi’ in itself. With over 1,00,00 hours of content across 12 languages, ZEE5 is sure to quickly become the only choice for South Asians in any country to access Indian content online, and immediately connect to home.”
Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer & Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide (India), said: “There is something that happens when people from South Asia move abroad. We become one vibrant community that is united by what we all have in common, and this community is known as ‘Desi’. The ‘Dil Se Desi’ idea celebrates what we love about being ‘desi’, the quirks, the attitude, the culture, the coolness, the togetherness and the content we can’t do without.”
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s digital entertainment platform ZEE5 has gone LIVE in over 190 countries, offering the largest width and depth of multi-genre content across English, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabi.ZEE5 comes packed with 1,00,000 hours of On Demand content, including Indian Movies and TV Shows, Cine plays, Music, and Health and Lifestyle videos along with a slew of exclusive Originals, across 12 languages. It also has an extensive Live TV offering with 60+ popular Live TV channels.
The ZEE5 App can be downloaded from Google Play Store as well as the iOS App Store and can be accessed by visiting www.ZEE5.com. The app is also available on Samsung Smart TV, Apple TV and Android TV; and will be available soon on Amazon Fire TV.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
