iWorld
Gen Z prefers OTT release over theatrical for Adipurush: YouGov
Mumbai: Touted as one of the most expensive Indian films ever made, Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer Adipurush is set to release on 16 June. After creating buzz with the trailer and song, the makers of the mythological magnum opus launched a second trailer at a pre-release event in Tirupati. Ahead of its theatrical release, YouGov reveals consumers’ reactions to the trailer and their intent to watch the film.
Since the beginning of the year, YouGov has been assessing trailers and teasers of upcoming movies to generate a screen appeal test (SAT) that evaluates the level of excitement and viewership intent generated by trailers or teasers. Each trailer is rated on seven metrics, to give a combined appeal score, which is an average of the seven underlying measures of interest.
Our data shows that Adipurush trailer scores high on most metrics among the general population. Recall, which measures the reach that the trailers have managed to build till date is high for Adipurush (at 57 per cent), much higher than the average recall of all the trailers tested since the beginning of the year (41 per cent). Interestingly, it is at par with the last box office mega blockbuster- Pathaan (58 per cent).
The trailer scores high on other metrices as well- such as buzz (measures the word-of-mouth potential), delivery (a measure of how well the trailer can land the main plot/idea of the story) and likeability (a measure of how much viewers like the trailer).
Among all the things, music and special effects were the most appealing factors and more than three in five (63 per cent) urban Indians claimed to like these aspects of the Adipurush trailer. Half liked it for its concept/story (52 per cent) and dialogues (50 per cent).
When it comes to watching the film, nearly two in five urban Indians (39 per cent) said they will watch it in a theatre. One in five (19 per cent) will wait for it to release on a video streaming platform, and less than one in ten (7 per cent) will wait for it to come on TV.
A look by age shows that among all the age groups, GenZ are least likely to see Adipurush in a theatre. Almost a third of GenZ consumers (32 per cent) said they will watch Adipurush in a theatre, compared to two in five millennials (43 per cent) and GenX (41 per cent) respondents who said the same. They are more likely to wait for the film to release on an OTT platform (22 per cent) as compared to others.
A look by city-tiers shows that tier-3 residents are less likely to catch a show in a theatre as compared to residents in other city tiers. Age-wise segregation in city-tiers reveals interesting data. While millennials are most likely to watch the film in a theatre in tier-1 cities (at 59 per cent), in 2-tier cities, this sentiment is the strongest amongst the GenX population (at 58 per cent).
Using YouGov’s Screen Appeal Test (SAT) content creators can test various versions of a trailer, identify drivers of appeal and understand the big screen potential of their films.
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.
