Single Screens was Fun

Few months back, I went to Maratha Mandir with Sumit, to watch DDLJ’s (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) morning show. Yes! It is such an old movie, running for more than 12 years now at this theatre. But it is such a good movie too. Brought back old memories and is perfect dose for nostalgia. But even more memorable was the fact that I watched a movie in a single screen theatre after a long gap, 3-4 years I guess.

It is almost like going back in time to all those old world charms. Multiplexes definitely have added to our movie going experience. But they are same everywhere, bringing in a monotony. A single screen brings back certain sights and sounds which remind me of my childhood days. This post is dedicated to those very sounds and sights.

I was in 8th standard when DDLJ first released. I still remember standing in that long queue in front of the ticket window. That was the scene every time a big movie released. One had to go to the hall at least an hour before the starting time of the movie. Sometimes for an evening show, we used to queue up, right in the morning. Getting a ticket was an adventure in itself. It was so much fun with friends taking turns in the queue and loitering around aimlessly. With advent of multiplexes came advance booking, tele booking, internet booking and out went the queues. Yes it is more comfortable now. But then the bonding we used to share with friends in those queues is out of our movie experience now. I miss that big time!

When Trimurti released, I was so excited that I bunked school to watch its first day first show. But I was not in luck, the ticket window was closed. I was sad, but then I heard – “pachhis ka pachhas mein, pachhis ka pachhas mein” – someone selling a 25 rupees ticket in 50 bucks. It definitely was a big call. I had to miss going to games parlor for few days. I bought that ticket in black. And the movie was such a disaster. Though I liked the song – Duniya Ri Duniya Very Good Very Good, Duniya Waale Very Bad Very Bad – very much. Seemingly it was written keeping youngsters in mind. Later on in life there were many occasions when I bought a ticket in black and most of the time it was worth it. But now we don’t see such unscrupulous elements when we go for a movie. Yes, we are not doing anything illegal. But the ticket rates these days are anyways at their fleecing best. At least tickets were blacked only for movies which were really good and sought after. But ticket rates at multiplexes are same for every kind of movie, whether it is a half decent flick ‘Bhoothnath’ or an unwatchable disaster ‘Jimmy’. Wish they soon start using differential rates!

During screening of Hum Apke Hain Kaun, people danced in the stall rows when Didi Tera Dewar was playing. I wasn’t surprised when people threw coins on screen when Karishma Kapoor kissed Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani. Can someone even think in his or her wildest dreams to witness such things in a multiplex or being a part of this kind of revelry? The answer is a big NO! Whenever a movie turned out to be a bore or the pace of the movie used to slacken, the quick-witted remarks from the last rows in the balcony used to lift the entire audience’s mood. But in multiplexes people come to watch movies as if it has been forced on them. They laugh and sigh in tandem as if on someone’s cue. All such things make multiplexes a tad bore and routine. Such ambience of single screens would be difficult to recreate and it would become part of our folklore.

The sound of the bottle opener rattling on the glass bottles of cold-drinks; the hoots that erupted during the entry of the hero of the movie; the wolf whistles when the heroine made a suggestive pelvic thrust; the occasional swear words when the villain did something abhorrent; the ruckus which was created when power failed while the movie played; all this and much more will fade in our memories. I would fondly remember the days when Single Screens was FUN!!!

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