Hindi
UTV announces ‘Katti Batti’
MUMBAI: After clutter breaking and iconic films like Dev D, A Wednesday, Barfi!, Kai Po Che and numerous others, UTV Motion Pictures now is looking at bringing a unique love story about new age relationships and breaking up and making up in the world of today, the sort of contemporary romantic relationship never before seen on Indian celluloid – Katti Batti! The film will be directed by Nikhil Advani and will bring together the eclectic pairing of actors Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut.
Katti Batti is an unusual love story with a twist, and has been creatively developed and driven by UTV Motion Pictures from its inception. UTV’s creative team first spotted the potential in Katti Batti’s script by first time writer Anshul Singhal. Then began the search for a director who could bring the same passion to the film, a search which ended with Nikhil Advani coming on board. UTV, Nikhil and Anshul have honed and polished the script for the past year to make it one of the most zany and heartwarming love stories in contemporary Hindi cinema.
“We are very excited to be taking our creative journey on Katti Batti to the next phase. It is a most unusual love story steeped in the culture and language of today’s relationships. We wanted to make sure that the script gets the right director at the helm and a cast that can justify the two incredibly real, funny and layered lead characters. Our creative team steered the entire project through wonderfully and we are thrilled to have Nikhil, Imran and Kangana on board for the film. We couldn’t have asked for a better director and cast for the film,” said Disney India managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Advani added, “UTV spotted a gem of a script with Katti Batti and it was critical that it got the cast that justified it! Am personally elated by this casting combination as it is a dream to work with Kangana – her body of work has not dulled her ability to bring humility to her craft. Imran on the other hand is drawing from new personal experiences and emotions and brings with him as well, a fresh approach.”
Actor Imran Khan, who will be essaying the role of Maddy, said, “I have always wished to be a part of films that make me proud as an actor. Katti Batti will be one such film. My last outing with UTV gave the audiences Delhi Belly, and we have worked together in the past on many successful films like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I Hate Luv Storys and Ek Main aur Ekk Tu. Now we hope to recreate the magic with Katti Batti. Nikhil Advani is a great story teller and Kangana is one of the finest actors of our generation. I am eagerly waiting to kickstart the film!”
Kangana who plays the character of Payal concluded, “It is a beautiful story. Writers have used elements like the battle of the sexes, issues of urban couples, expanded truth and non linear narrative. We have one of the leading creative studios UTV as the producers and I have worked with them in the past on Fashion and Life in a Metro, two of my most memorable films. I just hope I do justice to this story that might change the perspective of love and love stories for us and for coming generations.”
Katti Batti goes on the floors later this year and is scheduled for a worldwide release in 2015.
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.
