Hindi
Y-Films readies new web series ‘Bang Baaja Baaraat;’ ropes in Lakme as sponsor
MUMBAI: Buoyed by the success of its maiden web series called Man’s World, Yash Raj Films’ youth films wing – Y-Films is planning to launch its second web series – Bang Baaja Baaraat – on 4 November.
The five-part series is directed by Anand Tiwari and written by Sumeet Vyas, Amritpal Bindra and Anand Tiwari. Bang Baaja Baaraat is thestory of two crazy families that come together for one mental wedding.
The cast includes Ali Fazal, Rajit Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Gajraj Rao, Ayesha Raza, Neil Bhoopalam. The series will also mark the debut of YRF’s new find – Angira Dhar, who has also been signed up by the studio.
Additionally, the studio has also brought on board Lakme as the sponsor of the series.
YRF talent management and Y-Films head and producer of the series Ashish Patil said, “Y-Films has always believed in pushing the boundaries of story-telling, our first series Man’s World was just the start of that journey on the web. With Bang Baaja Baaraat, we are upping the ante on the medium with one of the most incredible star casts that a web series has ever seen in India and a cinematic vision that’s never been seen on the net. The series itself is a fantastic ride, like a mad destination wedding gone wrong. Don’t miss it!”
HUL vice president – skin care Srinandan Sundaram added, “Bang Baajaa Baaraat promises to be an entertaining wedding story that the young audiences will relate to. We are happy to partner with YRF on this endeavour with our brand Lakmé as this is a good opportunity to strengthen Lakmé’s image on styling for special occasions such as weddings, a pivotal moment in a woman’s life.”
Mindshare Fulcrum leader Amin Lakhani said, “We, at Mindshare always thrive in coming up with unique ideas that connect a brand to its consumer. YRF’s forte of creating clutter breaking content & Mindshare’s expertise at driving innovations paves way for an iconic partnership. Given the grandeur & the star cast, we saw Bang Baaja Baaraat as a great opportunity for a contemporary brand like Lakmé. It has also given us a platform to engage the brand’s audience by creating interesting content around the series and its protagonist, Angira.”
The series’ costumes have been exclusively designed and styled by Diva’ni – a YRF & KBSH brand.
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.
