iWorld
Voot Select reveals its sixth original – Crackdown
KOLKATA: Voot Select is all set to reveal their latest Original – Crackdown. Home to critically acclaimed shows like Asur, Raikar Case, The Gone Game, Voot Select will now have ace Bollywood director Apoorva Lakhia making his directorial web debut with this action-packed espionage thriller. Crackdown boasts of a fantastic ensemble cast including Saqib Saleem, Iqbal Khan, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Waluscha De Sousa, Rajesh Tailang, and Ankur Bhatia amongst others. The eight-part series goes live on Voot Select on 23 September 2020.
A slick, high-octane thriller, Crackdown, revolves around a covert operations wing that tries to crack through multiple smaller decoys, to uncover a larger conspiracy that threatens national security. In the process, they find an able ally in a girl whose identity remains a mystery. As seen in the trailer, B-town was buzzing with excitement as the first look of the show that was announced by none other than Superstar and the ‘Shehenshah’ of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan. Brimming with high octane action sequences, powerful visuals, and a spectacular cast, Crackdown boasts of the grandeur and scale that Apoorva Lakhia’s directorial web debut one would expect will offer.
Voot Select, Viacom18 youth, music, and english entertainment head Ferzad Palia said, “Voot Select has in a very short span of time, become synonymous with great quality Originals and curated content. Now we are all set and extremely excited to launch our sixth Original – Crackdown. Apoorva is known to make the most stylish and slick thrillers and has created magic with what he has done in the show Crackdown. It’s an edge of the seat thriller with lots of action which is sure to be nothing short of a big Bollywood blockbuster experience brought to the OTT world.”
Apoorva Lakhia said, "I have always loved making action thrillers. It gives me an adrenaline rush just being a part of those sequences and locations. Needless to say, when I read the script written by Chintan Gandhi and Suresh Nair, I was extremely excited. The storyline is great, its action-packed, with great locations and a stellar cast and it is going to stream on one of the biggest digital platforms in the country, Voot Select. What more can one need? Although this is my directorial debut for an OTT platform, the treatment of Crackdown is exactly like a Bollywood blockbuster and I am sure the audience is going to love it as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Gunshots, chase sequences, blasts, and the constant hand combat, Crackdown is packed with all the right elements that should put it on the top of your binge-watch list.
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.
