How things have changed!! There were times when we would queue up before Hrudaya Theatre in Palghat to see the Hollywood movies that have been released in India a good five years after their opening in the west. We would sit in the Rs 2 ticket, which is second cheapest- (slightly better than sitting on the floor also called “Tara ticket”, a term used to signify one’s ancestral lineage, state of penury, tightfistedness and a host of other things). The Rs 2 ticket in Hriduya Theatre is a great leveler in Palghat. Even the kids of big business men studying with us are not permitted anything better than that. They would be ridiculed, derided and lampooned for the rest of their lives if they as much as attempted to take a higher priced ticket. I still remember Anand, the owner of Lakshmi Vilas (in those days a big hotel in Palghat) thoroughly embarrassed since several of his employees were sitting in the balcony and were amused to see their master and owner lolling around with a bunch of good-for-nothing friends in the Rs 2 ticket. A trip to Hriduya for night show and eating Idlis in the only all-night hotel (catering primarily to Truck drivers on the Coimbatore highway) was an essential feature of night life in Victoria College Hostel. Wearing Lungis and all.
And we all left college one day. There ensued a long break, when there was no first-day first-show syndrome. Never had the urge to rejoice in the latest exploits of Amitabh Bachan/ Shah Rukh Khan/ Mohan Lal movies as soon as they are released in theatres. Never jostled for ticket, paid a margin and purchased a ticket in black. DVDs had become common, and there are plenty of movies on HBO, Star Movies and other movie channels. Today I line up for first day first show: only for kid movies. I have seen the entire Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, Harry Potter movies early on as they are released in India. Else you suffer the wrath of Vasudev Nayar aka Chathu, my son. Every day after release of the said movie in India, is spent in restless anticipation, often turning into opportunities for blackmail for him. Do your homework Vasu, the Missus screams, but you haven’t shown me the latest Spider man, yells Vasu back. Hence the young man is whisked away to multiplexes where these shows run, when the ticket prices are at their highest (Saturdays and Sundays) and there are hidden costs involved (petrol, parking, the essential plate of nachos, popcorn, chips and coke- and the precious time). And there is the wait at the ticket counter, often returning without tickets. The place is packed with mostly junior citizens accompanied by oldies who are under similar threat of blackmail.
To my credit, I must say that this time around I resisted for a very long time. Dark Knight (Batman series) has been released almost a month ago and I hadn’t succumbed to threats and blackmail. You are thirteen now… I said: old enough to go for a movie alone. I will drop you there and wait outside to pick you up; spare me the torture. You can take some of your friends also along…. I said. It was finally the Missus who succumbed. So we went yesterday.
As the name signifies, it is a dark movie. With plenty of violence that it doesn’t merit classification as a “Bache wali” (Kids) movie. The essence of the movie can be summed up as follows.
1. The world is full of violent people.
2. No one can be trusted
3. Everyone is a potential criminal/ terrorist
4. Some do it for money, others just like to watch the world burn (I think I know where the jokers who set up blasts in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Jaipur get their inspiration from- certainly not from a benevolent god; more likely from the monsters shown in such movies)
5. Vigilantes like Batman are more equipped than the Police Department. (Cry beloved country…. with no Batman to rescue us from and indifferent and inefficient intelligence setup)
6. A city can be run much in the fashion of grown up members of famous five or secret seven stories
Vasu tells me that Heath Ledger (acting as Joker) has died of a drug overdose and Christian Bale (acting as Batman) has been arrested for domestic violence. Some penance…. for shoving this movie down on a whole generation of innocent kids. Aaron Eckhart (acting as Harvey Dent the young handsome District Attorney who teams up with Batman to combat crime in Gotham city) appears in the second half of the movie with one half of his face gruesomely burnt. It is really I sight no one would like to see. Only butler Alfred (kindly and genial Michael Caine) seems like a tolerable character. Hospitals are burnt, city is evacuated, even evacuated people are threatened with annihilation. There is death and destruction all around….
I came out of the theatre in a daze. Feeling awfully miserable. Even the end of the movie is not redeeming. Good hasn’t triumphed and evil hasn’t been destroyed. You come out with the feeling that the world is not a good place for your kids to grow up in. I hugged Chathu closely to myself and swore to myself that we are not coming for any more kiddy movies first day first show……
And we all left college one day. There ensued a long break, when there was no first-day first-show syndrome. Never had the urge to rejoice in the latest exploits of Amitabh Bachan/ Shah Rukh Khan/ Mohan Lal movies as soon as they are released in theatres. Never jostled for ticket, paid a margin and purchased a ticket in black. DVDs had become common, and there are plenty of movies on HBO, Star Movies and other movie channels. Today I line up for first day first show: only for kid movies. I have seen the entire Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, Harry Potter movies early on as they are released in India. Else you suffer the wrath of Vasudev Nayar aka Chathu, my son. Every day after release of the said movie in India, is spent in restless anticipation, often turning into opportunities for blackmail for him. Do your homework Vasu, the Missus screams, but you haven’t shown me the latest Spider man, yells Vasu back. Hence the young man is whisked away to multiplexes where these shows run, when the ticket prices are at their highest (Saturdays and Sundays) and there are hidden costs involved (petrol, parking, the essential plate of nachos, popcorn, chips and coke- and the precious time). And there is the wait at the ticket counter, often returning without tickets. The place is packed with mostly junior citizens accompanied by oldies who are under similar threat of blackmail.
To my credit, I must say that this time around I resisted for a very long time. Dark Knight (Batman series) has been released almost a month ago and I hadn’t succumbed to threats and blackmail. You are thirteen now… I said: old enough to go for a movie alone. I will drop you there and wait outside to pick you up; spare me the torture. You can take some of your friends also along…. I said. It was finally the Missus who succumbed. So we went yesterday.
As the name signifies, it is a dark movie. With plenty of violence that it doesn’t merit classification as a “Bache wali” (Kids) movie. The essence of the movie can be summed up as follows.
1. The world is full of violent people.
2. No one can be trusted
3. Everyone is a potential criminal/ terrorist
4. Some do it for money, others just like to watch the world burn (I think I know where the jokers who set up blasts in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Jaipur get their inspiration from- certainly not from a benevolent god; more likely from the monsters shown in such movies)
5. Vigilantes like Batman are more equipped than the Police Department. (Cry beloved country…. with no Batman to rescue us from and indifferent and inefficient intelligence setup)
6. A city can be run much in the fashion of grown up members of famous five or secret seven stories
Vasu tells me that Heath Ledger (acting as Joker) has died of a drug overdose and Christian Bale (acting as Batman) has been arrested for domestic violence. Some penance…. for shoving this movie down on a whole generation of innocent kids. Aaron Eckhart (acting as Harvey Dent the young handsome District Attorney who teams up with Batman to combat crime in Gotham city) appears in the second half of the movie with one half of his face gruesomely burnt. It is really I sight no one would like to see. Only butler Alfred (kindly and genial Michael Caine) seems like a tolerable character. Hospitals are burnt, city is evacuated, even evacuated people are threatened with annihilation. There is death and destruction all around….
I came out of the theatre in a daze. Feeling awfully miserable. Even the end of the movie is not redeeming. Good hasn’t triumphed and evil hasn’t been destroyed. You come out with the feeling that the world is not a good place for your kids to grow up in. I hugged Chathu closely to myself and swore to myself that we are not coming for any more kiddy movies first day first show……
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