iWorld
Rana Daggubati announces Lords of the Deccan at the Comic Con USA
Mumbai: Sony LIV in association with Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media, has announced its latest Telugu original, Lords of the Deccan, a historical action-drama series. Rana Daggubati made this announcement at Comic Con USA. Adapted from the Indian bestseller, ‘Lords of The Deccan: Southern India from Chalukyas to Cholas’, written by Anrirudh Kanisetti, the series takes us back in time to witness the birth of the Chalukyas, a dynasty that shaped southern India for centuries.
Commenting on the announcement, Sony LIV content head Saugata Mukherjee said, “Sony LIV believes in taking great Indian stories to audiences across the globe. And in keeping with that, we are embarking on the exciting journey of capturing the history of the glorious dynasties of southern India by adapting the celebrated book ‘Lords of the Deccan’ by Anirudh Kanisetti. We are elated that we are joining hands with Rana Daggubati on this journey. Together, we are excited about bringing these untold histories – the glorious dynasties, the majestic lands, the valiant kings, and their many wars – to our audiences from across the world.”
Lords of the Deccan was the author’s debut work and one of the most talked-about history books of 2022. It even won the Book of the Year (Non-Fiction) award at The Mumbai LitFest.
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.
