Hindi
Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh……Predictable story
Sequel is a misnomer for films using a similar or the same title as an older film including, surprisingly, not always successful ones. The use of an old title and, if possible, the protagonist from the earlier film seem to suffice. In Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, the common factor as in Kahaani (2012) is the lead actor, Vidya Balan, and the film’s West Bengal backdrop. Rest has no connect with the earlier.
Kahaani 2 deals with the much-debated issue of child abuse.
Vidya Balan’s character has a paraplegic daughter, Tunisha Sharma, in her early teens who she has promised to protect till she is alive. Both lead a quiet life in a distant village in West Bengal. Her time is divided between her job and looking after her daughter. Her only wish is to take her daughter to the US for treatment so she can start walking again as she did earlier.
Tunisha also has a past that gives her nightmares. Tunisha has been a victim of child abuse when she was six (played by Naisha Khanna).
Arjun Rampal, the newly transferred cop from Kolkata, enters the scene. As Arjun delves into Vidya’s diary it emerges that Naisha is an orphan in care of her uncle and granny. And, there is something about her family that is making her uncomfortable. Vidya takes it upon herself to rescue the girl.
Rampal has a reason to keep the case away from police record and his seniors.
Kahaani 2 is thoroughly a script of convenience. It is predictable and leaves a few things unexplained at the end. Since it uses the title Kahaani, the comparison is inevitable and, to say the least, this one falls way short of the original.
It is a VidyaBalan film but she is not seen doing any daring-dos here as would be expected Naisha Khanna is impressive. Tunisha does not have much to do and passes muster. Rampal is good. Jugal Hansraj and Tota Roy Chowdhary are okay in support.
The film keeps the viewer engrossed through its first half, but it tends to get repetitive in the later half. What works to some extent is the film’s ‘please all’ climax. With a solo release and coming as it does following a trail of poor films recently, Kahaani2: Durga Rani Singh was expected to take a decent opening which has not happened. In absence of initial curiosity, the film stands poor chances at the box office.
Producers: Kushal Kantilal Gada, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Aksshay Jayantilal Gada and Sujoy Ghosh.
Director: Sujoy Ghosh.
Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Tunisha Sharma, Naisha Khanna, Tota Roy Chowdhary, Jugal Hansraj.
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
