The Joy of Watching Movies - 90s and Beyond

“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.”

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

The joy of watching movies together