Hindi
Kahaani: All thrills, no frills
MUMBAI: It is not often that a film based on Kolkata background is made and when one is made, Pujo and Rabindra sangeet are mandatory as are visuals of the Victoria Memorial and the Howrah Bridge; however, what is not mandatory is having an all local supporting cast when you plan to appeal to an all India audience. That leaves little option for a viewer, not much used to heroine oriented films in the first place, but to be content with Vidya Balan.
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Producers: Kaushal Kantilal Gada, Sujoy Ghosh. |
A heavily pregnant Vidya Balan ascends on Kolkata in search for her missing husband and makes a police station her first halt and seeks help to trace her husband. Next she checks into a guest house where her husband was supposed to have stayed and used to call her from. She has a young police inspector, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, at all times and takes her around in her search. At the data centre, she is told that though there is no record of her husband having worked there, they did have an ex-employee named Damji resembling the husband‘s picture she carried. Vidya Balan‘s search is not easy for wherever she checks; the traces of her husband as well as his lookalike have been deleted, from files as well as the computers. What is more, whoever helps her or is willing to help her is killed while she herself has some close shaves from the killer.
It is when she finds the picture and address of Damji from old records from the data centre‘s old, unused office that she stirs things up and soon a senior intelligence office from Delhi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, joins the action. This results in some twists and turns and thrilling moments as the climax is played out during a Pujo procession and Vidya Balan springs a surprise on all those involved on the wrong as well as the right side of the law.
Director Sujoy Ghosh chooses the inner, drab and crowded parts of Kolkata which add to the atmosphere and create anxiety. His handling of the subject is deft with ample help from a tight script without distraction in the form of songs except for “Ekla chalo” number in the background in pre-climax.
The film is an out and out Vidya Balan show in a role that offers her no frills; she is a desperate pregnant woman on a mission and she goes around it credibly. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is impressive balancing his act between negative and positive shades adding to the suspense. Parambrata Chattopadhyay is natural.
Kahaani a fair thriller and due for much acclaim; however its business will be limited to few metro multiplexes.
An inconsistent film with limited prospects
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Producer: Samir Karnik.
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A vibrant, bubbly girl lands up in a stubborn family of erstwhile Rajasthan royals who still live in the same delusions of being royal Rajputs. The family is full of oddballs all taking a fancy to her in their own way. A romantic comedy needs ample gags and characters; Chaar Din Ki Chandni has some of the latter. In an attempt to add a bit of everything from royalty to status barrier and the Indian wedding with romance and comedy, the film is a farce made of a series of situations.
Tusshar Kapoor arrives in Rajasthan to attend his sister‘s wedding with his girlfriend, Kulraj Randhawa, whom he plans to introduce to his family and obtain their approval to marry her. However Anupam Kher, his father, has these notions of Rajput superiority and none of his children can marry anybody else but a Rajput and he always keeps a gun handy if the case is otherwise. Besides this trait he is a jovial person. Given this situation, Tusshar Kapoor fumbles at the last moment and introduces Kulraj Randhawa as a journalist from UK here to cover an Indian royal wedding. Tusshar Kapoor has four brothers, all with their own peculiarities – one is a drunkard, other is headstrong and violent while yet another is a womaniser; only one of them is sober and okay with Tusshar‘s romance since he himself is heartbroken. Soon, Kulraj Randhawa has won the hearts of all members of the household; while Anupam Kher treats her as a daughter of the house and even promises to get her married to a suitable Punjabi boy, the three wayward brothers each try to score with her in their own clumsy ways while Tusshar Kapoor and Kulraj Randhawa keep romancing on the sly. To add to the tricky situation come Om Puri and Farida Jalal on the scene enthused that their daughter is planning to get engaged; but they are soon passed off as decorator and his chief assistant by Tusshar Kapoor as revealing their true identity would not work with Anupam Kher. With so many characters involved, there is a series of gags, some good some flat. In an old-fashioned way, the climax is a free for all with Johny Lever as one of the parties.
The story idea for Chaar Din Ki Chandni is the second half of the director‘s earlier film, Yamla Pagla Deewana which had a huge Punjabi family and false identities; with many characters to share the screen, Samir Karnik keeps the pace moving. Using old film songs is a good ploy. Dialogue is not much help. Tusshar Kapoor is okay. Kulraj Randhawa is fairly good. Anupam Kher‘s versatility is obvious. Om Puri Plays his loud Punjabi guy very well. Mukul Dev, Sushant Singh, Chandrachur Singh and Harrish as brothers along with Rahul Singh, Farida Jalal and Anita Raj are good in support. Johny Lever is wasted.
Chaar Din Ki Chandni is a passable entertainer with limited prospects.
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.
