Hindi
Theatre’s role in cinema, where stage meets screen
MUMBAI: Curtains up, lights on, and action, but the roots of cinema lie on the stage. At a lively session on “The Power of Theatre in Cinema’s DNA,” celebrated actors and creators revealed how the world of theatre continues to shape the Indian screen.
Moderated by National School of Drama director Chittaranjan Tripathy, the panel featured Swanand Kirkire, Raghubir Yadav, Rajpal Yadav, and Mita Vashisht. The discussion explored how theatrical training provides actors with depth, discipline, and authenticity that resonate on screen.
Swanand Kirkire, a multi-talented lyricist, actor, and singer, called cinema an extension of theatre. “Drama happens in one space and one time on stage. Cinema takes the same drama and expands it across spaces and moments,” he said. He highlighted that every great film begins with understanding drama, the conflict between forces, and the forward motion of storytelling.
Raghubir Yadav stressed theatre’s irreplaceable role in building a performer. “You can do a play without cinema, but you cannot do a film without a play. Theatre gives you everything: emotion, nuance, life. Cinema may teach dialogue memorisation, but theatre teaches you living on stage,” he explained.
Rajpal Yadav reflected on theatre as a teacher of life itself. “The collaborative essence of stagecraft and how understanding every role, from actors to carpenters, enriches cinema. Theatre teaches zero, cinema teaches hero. When theatre and cinema come together, every element of performance becomes alive,” he said.
Mita Vashisht discussed the technical interplay between theatre and film. While theatre delivers a live connection with audiences, cinema requires technology to capture and convey the same energy. She also pointed out that concepts like framing, positioning of actors, and set design in cinema are borrowed directly from theatre, referencing techniques like Mise en Scène.
The session celebrated theatre as the backbone of cinema, emphasising that even with all the technology in modern filmmaking, the foundational lessons of stagecraft: discipline, collaboration, and emotional truth, remain essential. As Kirkire summarised, “Theatre gives cinema its DNA. Without it, the soul of performance is incomplete.”
From the intricacies of acting to the careful orchestration of a set, the discussion made it clear, the spotlight may have shifted from stage to screen, but the heart of storytelling continues to beat in the theatre.
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.
