“15 Rupees for Balcony and 10 for Stall”
“What!! This is too much. Last time it was 10 for
Balcony!”
“Yes, but sir, the songs are very good and the movie
is ‘super duper hit’ across the country. There is Aamir Khan and Karishma. Do you want tickets or not? You are holding
up the queue”
“OK, 4 tickets. Balcony.”
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| A blockbuster |
And then walking up on the long stairs for Balcony
seats. Outside the theatre a big poster has been hung across the outer wall.
And small colourful posters from upcoming Bollywood movies adorned the inner
wall.
“Bhaiya we will surely come for this one. It has
Salman Khan in double role”, me pointing towards a poster with two laughing
Salmans, a surprised Karishma and another unknown actress.
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| What? We get to see two Salmans in one movie! |
“No No, this Nana Patekar one has that song ‘Ek
Machchar aadmi ko hijra bana deta hai’ from Philips top 10”, brother pointing
towards another poster.
I would keep on yammering about other movie posters
till we reach the door of the theatre. A man with beedi would take the pink
coloured tickets, check the seat numbers and show it to us in dark theatre
using a long torch. By now, I would stop yammering and start absorbing the huge
screen. The screens in single screen theatres were humongous. A glee would come
on my face seeing such a large screen. As we settle in, the uncomfortable
wooden seats are forgotten. Perennial smell of Beedi and Maawa is forgotten. A
unit test within two weeks is forgotten. A movie was going to begin and all the
world’s problems can be kept outside the red neon adorned EXIT doors. Escapism in its glory.
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| The most sad walk we took was out of this door! |
Watching movies in theatre in 90s was an
accomplishment. There were no multiplexes. There were no online ticket bookings.
And in small town like Veraval & Jamnagar, where I grew up, there were no
more than 3 theatres in whole town. Getting tickets for a popular and
successful movie, even in its 50th day of release was much of a task. And yes,
the movies reached their 50th day and even 100th day unlike now where even the
biggest blockbusters are not able to survive 4th week!
But what made that era beautiful was the fact that we
went into the theatre without any knowledge of story that would unfold in front
of us. Only the star power would bring us to the theatre. With advent of movie
trailers, promotional tours and numerous interviews that the current crop of
stars give before each movie, it has become very difficult to go into the
theatre without any pre-conceived notion. But 90s was perfect transitional
phase for movies in India. After the dark age of Indian Cinema of 80s ended,
which did a great job at removing family out of movie theatres by releasing
some of the most ridiculous storytelling possible and absurd action movies
targeted at only male audience, 90s brought the families back to the theatre
with movies like Swarg (1990) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994). The songs were
breaking new grounds with many new music directors and singers getting
opportunities. And Bollywood was getting several fresh new faces and
heartthrobs.
TV advertisements for movies had just started with the
release of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (1995). DDLJ was trend setter movie in
many ways, but the most underappreciated one is its use of TV as medium of
advertisement. But PR/Marketing of movies was still in its infancy, so what we
really got in the name of trailer was a montage of various scenes with a movie
tune playing in the background. So, the only way we knew that a movie was coming,
was through the numerous colourful posters pasted around city and the Philips
Top 10 songs! In today’s world it would be impossible to have a whodunit
masterpiece like Gupt (1997) released on Friday without getting spoiled by
Saturday morning, thanks to social media. But the day we saw that movie in
theatre, and the final reveal, will forever be etched as one of the best
suspense thriller moment in our minds.
In those days, word of mouth publicity was the only
real option for advertisement.
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| Epitome of marketing in 1980s |
The product had to be good. The public
conscience was realising the difference between good and bad storytelling and
therefore writing had to be good. The songs had to be good. The cast had to be
good. Production quality was increasing with each year. The movies were
discussed in schools, playgrounds, offices and parties. And one would heed to
their friend’s advice and take a trip to nearby cinema.
The family trip to movie theatres was like excursions.
There was excitement going in. There was anticipation of watching a Sunny Deol
fight scene or some Govinda-Johnny Lever amazing chemistry of comedy or atleast
our favourite Shah Rukh Khan doing some romancing around! And when we returned
there was so much to tell our friends. So much discussion to be held.
 |
| Still better than Khukhar Darinda (Underworld) |
By late 90s, even English movies were getting full
release in whole country. And it was dream come true to watch one in theatres.
People used to get frightened in theatre watching Godzilla, hoping that it
doesn’t jump out of the screen onto them! The advantage that English movies had
over Hindi movies was that its great spectacle made people forget about its
poor screenplay. The movies like Godzilla and James Bond’s The world is not
enough, would bomb all over the world but get great reception in India.
The first time we heard that a ‘multiplex’ has opened
in small town of Jamnagar, many innocent questions propped up. Multiplexes had
many screens, and this one had 3. So, do we get to watch 3 movies at once? How
do they fit 3 screens in one theatre? Can we switch to other movies in
intervals? We had to find out and what better one than Lakshya. It had enough
emotional tug, mix of patriotism and action sequences to keep a 13 years old
kid engaged. The lavish chairs and interiors, the digital screen and sound
system, the sweet aroma was far cry from what we had seen till now. Twice the normal fare of single-screens was justified.
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| 5 star movie theatres! |
Multiplexes finally brought down the curtains on low
fare single screen theatres. But this multiplex era (post 90s) also brought
down curtains on old school anticipation and excitement, especially for Hindi
movies. With reviews coming in days before release, we decide the movie’s fate
in our homes itself. The constant plugging-in done by movie stars on TV and
bandwidth these movies get for promotion on reality shows and news channels becomes
an event greater than the movie itself. Which movie was it for which SRK went
to Salman’s Bigg Boss?
Where do we go from here? In a 1990 interview, Steven
Spielberg said that it would be very difficult for movie theatres to survive
90s. As VHS caught up the American public by end of 80s and started catching up
in 90s in India, it was becoming prudent that people would surely prefer
watching movies in the comfort of their homes rather than watching it several
miles away in a dark theatre. But re-invention is the key to survival of any
technology. After single screen theatres, we have had 3D, multiplexes, and now
IMAX 3D experience. These changes have infused new life in world of movie
theatres whenever it was required. The kind of anticipation is not the same in multiplex
era as it was in single screen era, but still the trailers get us to fill up
the seats in dark theatres. Movie theatres are the place to give a large canvas
to imagination of a creative lot for general public’s appetite. Hope it stays
that way for long time to come.
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| The joy of watching movies together |
