iWorld
The Script Room completes one year with 41 films over five brands
MUMBAI: – Having successfully created over 40 ad films across youth brands like Netflix, OYO, Chumbak, Beck’s Ice and Groww, a financial services app, The Script Room, a fast-growing writers' hub is celebrating its one-year completion amidst lockdown.
A company born out of an enthusiastic and engaged eponymous WhatsApp group, once created by one of the founders, Ramsam as a place to share and discuss writing in advertising and movies has now structured itself as a full-fledged company – The Script Room, as a registered trademark, with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore.
Founded by Rajesh Ramaswamy (Ramsam) whose last job was with Lowe, Bangalore and Ayyappan Raj (Ayyappan), whose last engagement was with Lowe (Unilever Global/Lowe Singapore), The Script Room built itself with a singular focus on writing for audio-visual advertising and content. They strongly believe that great writing is behind every single piece of celebrated content, both branded and unbranded, and the purpose of The Script Room is to celebrate writers and give writing it’s due.
The newly formed entity bagged its first project for Netflix India for a campaign around one of its originals – Selection day. Nine films were shot in one night. The ads appeared sequentially on last year IPL matches. The campaign won the fledgling company the Best Digital Creative Award at Star ReImagine awards. Their second campaign with a series of ten ads titled ‘So, what are you watching?’ for Netflix was on air on last World Cup and was an Effie Finalist.
The Script Room founder Ayyappan Raj said, “We don’t have any typical organisational structure as such. We operate more as a writers hub and we spend a lot of time in jamming on what to write before we actually put pen on paper. Since we are a few and we are focussed, we are super conscious of the task, the consumer, limitations of execution and it reflects in the final output, our work. And about completion of first year, it has been a terrific one, extraordinary in all sense. Ramsam and I started up The Script Room working out of home, added more and more writers, got offices in Mumbai and Bangalore, finished more than 40 ad films, one 30 minute short film (branded content) and with a slate of campaigns in scripting stage and bam! we are back to working from home again! Overall it’s been a fantastic first year, we don’t know if we’re creating something big or something small but we’re having a real good time doing what we’re doing”.
Rajesh Ramaswamy said, “We have pulled together some of the best writers in the country, who have been very successful in telling insightful, engaging, crafted-to-perfection audiovisual stories. And we make sure that we write for the brand, for the context, for the budget, for the duration – no artificial colours, no preservatives, no added sugar. 100 per cent pure, handwritten ads that effortlessly do their work. We don’t want to do anything that’s art for art sake and stuff that lies in one corner of the internet. And we have clearly chosen to stay away from other channels of advertising, storytelling is our forte and what better medium than audio-visual to tell your stories?
About one year, I am personally very excited by the spirit of the place and the collective sort of a model that we’re building. ”.
Prior to lockdown, The Script Room had just wrapped up a series of films for Chumbak and Beck’s Ice which are in various stages of production and slated to release in the coming months.
iWorld
Meta warns 200 users after fake Whatsapp spyware attack
Italy-targeted campaign used unofficial app to deploy surveillance spyware.
MUMBAI: It looked like a message, but it behaved like a mole. Meta has warned around 200 users most of them in Italy after uncovering a targeted spyware campaign that weaponised a fake version of WhatsApp to infiltrate devices. The attack, first reported by Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, relied on classic social engineering with a modern twist: persuading users to download an unofficial WhatsApp clone embedded with surveillance software. The malicious application, believed to be developed by Italian firm SIO through its subsidiary ASIGINT, was designed to mimic the real app closely enough to bypass suspicion.
Meta’s security teams identified roughly 200 individuals who may have installed the compromised version, triggering immediate countermeasures. Affected users were logged out of their accounts and issued alerts warning of potential privacy breaches, with the company describing the incident as a “targeted social engineering attempt” aimed at gaining device-level access.
The malicious app was not distributed via official app stores but circulated through third-party channels, where it was presented as a legitimate WhatsApp alternative. Once installed, it reportedly allowed external operators to access sensitive data stored on the device turning a simple download into a potential surveillance gateway.
According to Techcrunch, Meta is now preparing legal action against the spyware developers to curb further misuse. The company, however, has not disclosed details about the specific individuals targeted or the extent of data compromised.
A Whatsapp spokesperson reiterated that user safety remains the top priority, particularly for those misled into installing the fake iOS application. Meanwhile, reports from La Repubblica suggest the spyware may be linked to “Spyrtacus”, a strain previously associated with Android-based attacks that could intercept calls, activate microphones and even access cameras.
The episode underscores a growing reality in the digital age, the threat is no longer just what you download, but where you download it from. As unofficial apps become increasingly convincing, the line between communication tool and covert surveillance is getting harder to spot and far easier to exploit.
