Hindi
Dangal ends 2016’s poor run
Year 2016 may have had a poor run in terms of box office, in general, but Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal bucked the trend and managed to spread the Christmas cheer. Dangal set records from show one, day one. Whatever little exposure the multiplexes gave to earlier releases like Befikre, found no footfalls and the screens were later passed on to Dangal.
Aamir Khan is the pioneer of the Rs. 300 crore Club in Hindi films and the trade expects him to continue the trend with Dangal — his third entry into the Club.
*Dangal is set to become a winner and a blockbuster that the indiantelevision.compredicted the film to be. It would be a rare product where a film works sans romance and melody, while also connecting with the viewer via a sportsperson’s biopic. Coming as it did after a disastrous lineup of 2016, the film promised little. Salman Khan-starrer Sultan, with a similar theme of wrestling, was released earlier in the year. However, Dangal surprised the trade with an unbelievable advance booking through bookmyshow.com (the site claims record-breaking business) and the film neared the all-time top grossers as it neared Rs. 30 crore for the opening day.
Surprise was because of the fact that the film had Aamir Khan in an unconventional role with a few newcomers along with a not-yet- established director.
Dangal opened with a Rs. 29.7 crore Friday; Saturday was expected by the trade at Rs. 32 crore, which the film bettered by a couple of crore of rupees and, finally, grossing over Rs. 10 core more than the opening day on Sunday. Dangal went on to register a record breaking opening weekend of Rs. 106.9 crore.
With no new releases to challenge the film till 13 January, 2017, it is expected Dangal will put up a sterling show in the holiday season.
*Wajah Tum Ho’s release was staggered because of demonetization of high currency notes early November, but failed to click at the box office. It barely managed put together Rs. 10.1 crore for its first week. The film has found it tough to find audience since the release of Dangal leading to ‘no audience no show status’.
*Shor Se Shuruaat, a seven short film omnibus, fairs poorly.
*Befikre holds well in its second week to collect Rs. 9.75 crore to take its two week total to Rs. 58.5 crore. However, a show or two spared for the film in its third week opposite Dangal has not worked for the film as the audience is missing and the screens finally got diverted to Dangal.
*Kahaani 2 has collected Rs. 2.1 crore in its third week taking its three week total to Rs. 30.5 crore.
*Dear Zindagi has added Rs. 1.4 crore in its fourth week taking its four week total to Rs. 63.8 crore.
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.
