Single screen v/s Multiplex : A view

Mumbai, October 2005

It has been 2 months since I have been to Mumbai. In the initial months there, after settling down, it was time to look around for some entertainment. And one form of entertainment that is hugely popular in Mumbai is films.
So, one fine day, we thought of going to a film. We selected to watch newly released "Hanuman" for 3 reasons.
1. It looked like the first really well made full length animated film in India.
2. I had never been to the multiplex and this would be my first
3. (With the fear of repeating)...entertainment.

We went to the movie and enjoyed it a lot...


Bengaluru, March 2008

It has been 2 days since I have been back to Bengaluru.After settling down for a day, it was time to look around for some entertainment. And one form of entertainment that is hugely popular in Bengaluru is films.
So, that day, we thought of going to a film. We selected to watch newly released "Shivaji" for 3 reasons.
1. Huge media hype and of course Rajnikanth,AR Rehman,Shankar combination.
2. It had been a very long time visiting a single screen and this would be a good time.
3. (With the fear of repeating again)...entertainment.

We went to the movie and enjoyed it a lot...


Single screen versus multiplex.

The most striking feature is the crowd. In multiplexes we see a rather above middle class crowd with funky clothes, polished accented English trying to show off. They buy cool drinks worth Rs 40/- and samosas worth Rs 50/-.Popcorns range from 35-50 again. Cozy seats, clean theatres are very common...infact when I watched jab we met, it was a gold class screen where three and a half ppl of my size could sit on a single seat and the total number of seats was 70.Whenever a heroine sparkles the screen showing her assets, family persons just move uncomfortably in their seats and others just let a small "WOW" sigh. Whoever the hero is the reaction of the general public is almost same.
Good film or bad they tolerate it, come out and slightly whisper..."bahut hi ghatiya movie tha".

But hold on.....if you are watching a movie on the single screen theatre...

First, you'll have to fight your way through the crowd (a 200-300 ppl trying to push thru the same door as if their life depends on it).Then you are ushered to a huge hall with ppl all over the place. You sit on a rock hard chair after you make your way through your way escaping all the pan spits all around. The crowd consists of all ppl from auto rickshaw drivers to handcart pullers to CEOs of companies. Then the film starts. If it is some hero who is a public favorite (read rajnikanth), then GOD save you...whenever he comes on screen ppl go the screen touch his feet and come back satisfied. Someone silently prays from his seat. And if there is a song ppl occupy the space front of the screen to dance and burst crackers!!!!!
The person sitting next to you blurts the punch lines even before the hero delivers it...

Now comes the heroines with the oomph factor. And this triggers a series of simultaneous whistles which is above the banned decibel levels of diwali crackers. Family persons (read rickshaw driver husbands) too join them even though their beautiful (!?) wives are sitting next to them... (Wives reaction??? well they don’t care .They know that dogs which chase cars can do nothing if they eventually manage to catch them).
Interval: 10 Rs cool drinks, 5 Rs samosas and 2 Rs popcorns.
And if by any chance the film is bad... (RGV ki aag does not qualify in "BAD" it is still worse), then you can hear all possible local galis you have ever heard.
SO you finally come out of theatres missing the punch dialogues, songs buried under whistles and an uneasy body with a cluttered mind.....Hoping never again you visit this place..

But it is this type of passion for films that bring you again and again!!!