Hindi
Blink Digital backed ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ to have world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2024
Mumbai: Blink Digital, a full-service independent digital advertising agency, is thrilled to announce the world premiere of its co-produced film, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024, to be held from 18 to 28 January 2024. The film, written and directed by debutant Shuchi Talati, has been selected to participate in the highly anticipated World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
The film, ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ unfolds within the walls of a boarding school nestled in a small Himalayan hill town in northern India. The narrative revolves around Mira, a 16-year-old girl, whose journey of self-discovery and rebellion is intertwined with her mother’s own unfulfilled coming-of-age experience.
Acclaimed Malayalam actor Kani Kusruti is playing one of the leads and the film also marks the debut of emerging actors Preeti Panigrahi and Kesav Binoy Kiron who also have lead roles.
Speaking about the development, actress and producer Richa Chadha said, “Girls Will Be Girls is not just a film; it’s an emotional journey, a poignant narrative that reflects the struggles and triumphs of womanhood. Collaborating with Blink Digital and bringing this story to Sundance is a testament to the power of storytelling and the importance of diverse voices in cinema. We are thrilled to unveil our creation to the world at such a prestigious platform.”
Sharing his thoughts on the world premiere of Girls Will Be Girls at Sundance Film Festival 2024, Blink Digital co-founder and CEO Dooj Ramchandani said, “At Blink, we have been championing creativity since 2009, be it ad films or interactive narratives. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is our first foray in filmmaking and its selection for the Sundance Film Festival is a recognition of the creative spirit that drives us at Blink. We look forward to sharing this cinematic gem with audiences worldwide and supporting creators in the field of advertising, filmmaking and gaming in the years to come.”
Blink Digital, based in Mumbai, is a cutting-edge independent digital agency known for its creativity, innovation, and an appetite for experimentation. Specializing in 360-degree digital marketing solutions across film & video, strategy, design, communication, technology, and media selling/buying, Blink Digital is at the forefront of redefining the digital landscape. In 2022, Blink Digital was ranked among the top 3 Indian advertising agencies and the only independent agency, by Campaign Brief Asia’s THE WORK.
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is a Indo-French co-production brought to life by India’s Pushing Buttons Studios, founded by esteemed actors Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha, along with co-producers Blink Digital, Cinema Inutile, and Arte Cofinova, with support from the CNC (Aide aux Cinémas du Monde), the Sørfond through Norwegian co-producing partner Hummelfilm, and ARRI. Paris-based sales company Luxbox has secured the rights to represent the film at Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), adding to the global anticipation surrounding this exceptional cinematic creation.
The film has already garnered attention and accolades, having been part of the Berlinale Talents Project Market in 2022. The project clinched two awards at the event – the VFF Talent Highlight Award, with a prize fund of €10,000 ($10,765), and the €6,000 ARTEKino International Award, presented by ARTE to recognise outstanding artistic merit from the Berlinale Co Production Market.
Blink Digital invites audiences and industry enthusiasts alike to witness the world premiere of “Girls Will Be Girls” at Sundance Film Festival, where it promises to captivate hearts and minds with its compelling narrative and exceptional filmmaking.
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.
