iWorld
Eros Now to release PM Narendra Modi’s biopic
MUMBAI: Eros Now, the OTT platform, has announced a biopic on India’s PM, Narendra Modi, produced by Benchmark Pictures, led by Umesh Shukla and Ashish Wagh. Titled Modi, the Eros Now original series showcases the eventful life of the inspiring and influential leader. The series is set to release in April 2019.
The 10-part original series on Eros Now directed by Shukla captures different phases of Modi’s life. The original series is written by MihirBhuta and Radhika Anand and each episode ranges between 35 to 40 minutes highlighting many incidents that made him devote his life to the service of the country.
Eros Group CCO Ridhima Lulla said, “Eros has always believed in connecting with the masses and telling them the stories that matter. ‘Modi’ is one of our really exciting projects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undoubtedly a leader par excellence and someone who has inspired many and changed the way world looks at India. Our attempt through this biopic is to tell the story of his struggle, ambition, intensity and success and how it not only inspires many but is one of the factors of his mass appeal. We are certain that the audience will love to watch the different facets of their enigmatic leader.”
The story talks about Narendra Modi who was born to a family of grocers (who owned a tea stall) in Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Bombay state (present-day Gujarat) and is the third of six children of DamodardasMulchand Modi and Hiraben Modi. He was a diligent and resourceful student who discovered himself better at a young age by travelling across the country. His extremely humble background helped him connect with the masses and the biopic is the ultimate gateway to witness the life of a self-made man. Shot in real locations of Gujarat, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Kashmir, the biopic captures the several highs and lows of the dynamic leader of new India.
Shukla further adds, “Prime Minister Modi’s personality enthrals young and old alike. His sense of humour, spirituality and love for technology makes him a unique leader. It was lovely to take on a project which came with a responsibility to narrate the life of the leader of new India and I am sure each episode of the 10-part original series will be a revelation for the audiences. His growing-up years, brave decisions and roles at different phases of life makes for an incredible story.”
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.
