News Broadcasting
Qalam 2001 : Jill Misquitta Karma
The film begins with the funeral sequence of her husband (Lets call the woman Priya-in her early 30’s)
A train pulls out of long dark tunnel into the harsh sunlite. Priya is at a window seat.The landscape outside is slowly changing from cityscape to countryside allowing for flashbacks on route giving us glimpses of Priyas past
A troubled & violent relationship with her husband .their last quarrel before his untimely mysterious death.(Another woman in his life? his denial? She is not convinced- a woman has a way of knowing)– ambigious cu’s of details- (eg. a wine glass being stirred. its colour changing a drawer opens & shuts etc)
By sunset she has reached the farm land she has inherited. At first deserted & cobwebed then cleaned up and beautified.
Slowly depression gives way to joy as she begins to explore her new envoirment
The 1st morning of her walk ouside amidst the beauty of nature-she meets a very old man limping,beraggled derilect.In some strange way he seems to remind her of her father /grandfather and stranger still is that he seems to know episodes from her childhood some so private- it intrigues her.
Another day -another walk another person she meets just as unique, strange & awe inspiring perhaps a few more as each day passes
One specially beautiful morning she meets a young man-handsome, gentle friendly As they interact they disscover a mutual attraction However the young man is evasive
Another time it is a poet she meets (middle aged) he is chewing on a cactus-she too tastes of it it has its own strange effect hallucinatory
As they walk on ,he recites his poems full of philosophy or insights into life and its impossible questions.(what is eerie is that even though they have not stopped walking they seem to return again & again to the same spot)
Priya finds herself once more drawn to him in a disturbing sort of way
. And so the the episode continue-each time a new char is introduced and a new aspect of life unfolds.-
A fearful one is of her meeting with a stalker a terrorist- a chance for suspense & chilling Fear
Once more she meets the handsome young man-karma- each meeting drawing them closer-revealing intimate details of their lifes (at least-almost all)
Once she meets what seems to her a spiritual magician-he wishes to reveal to her a secret-he takes her to a cave(water always dripping like a room with a leaking roof) this is where he meditates. He calls it the wish fulling room. She reveals to him her distress & her extreme lonliness (her guilt/shame) he is touched by her pain- he is compassionate he says he can performe a miracle-he can give her a second chance in life-she will be able to relive the last day with her husband(now dead) Nothing will change he says -she says ‘she can change everything -redo -repair the damage. Can she? or is the damage irrepairable? A chance to explore fate, destiny- and the struggle for change-human growth.
Another character whom she meets a few times (besides the karma)is a heafty writer-a kind of ham crime writer who keeps her interested with his murder mysteries what is strange here is that his plots seem to recreate themselves(life immitating art) One by one the other chars we have met before(Poet, terrorist, guru) seem to be found dead in almost the exact situations that the crime writer has described his defence-he can predict- a writer is a seer
Now only the handsome young man karma & she are left alone on that deserted landscape.
One night (A Storm threatens)
In the distance – a little hillock a deserted horizion are seen the lites of just one lone cottage
Indoors in an attic is Karma before the mirror – he is speaking to himself through his monologues we discover he is a failed actor. He is putting on his make-up- changing his costume-transforming himself until he is almost unrecognizable.
Then he sets out on his walks again he meets Priya with whom he is testing out is skills with his impersonations.
Is karma falling in love with Priya or is he closing in on her? Is he a killer is it murder mystery a complex who done it-(he knows of her fortune)or a love story?
Is Karma discovering love?-learning to love? and thus is able to intrigate his many multiple personalities finally finding his true identitry as a lover & friend & Priya her lost love?
P.S. Lots of possibilities to complex to put down in a hurry in a few PS’s The film has shifting points of view.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
