Cinema~ 300 Second Saturday

Cinema.

The production of movies as an art or industry.  Cinema going is different here.  How do I know?  Because I went to my first ever movie here where I live.  It has been over two years that we have been living here in India.  I saw a movie in Delhi (3D which I think is a waste of money and a good way to get a splitting headache) last year and this was my movie for this year and maybe the next ten.

I am nursing so I fed Zana and hit the door running to make the showing that would allow me to return in time to feed her again.  I ran to the road where I took a bicycle rickshaw to the mall (which sports the first escalator in our State), ran up to the ticket counter and encountered the first difference.  Here is the top 20 reasons why going to the cinema in India  (at least in my city) is vastly different than in the States.

1. There is no ticket line.  You have to push yourself forward.  
2. You can purchase tickets to one of three types of seats.  Silver, Gold and Diomand (original spelling kept to preserve authenticity of this story)
3. Diomand seats cost you about 3 dollars and 50 cents almost double the other tickets.
4. You are assigned an actual seat.
5. There is a guard when you enter the mall (you buy the tickets outside).
6. There is a guard when you enter the movie floor.  (both guards check your bag)
7. There are just two theaters to seat the masses.
8. The movie starts late!  They don't even let us in the theater (we enter ten minutes late ~ no one is perturbed.)
9. Even though there are only about 8 people in the Gold section (which is the entire top section of the theater except one row~that other row is Diomand and those seats are a different color and have cup holders) all of those 8 people (in Gold) are seated directly next to each other! (they did not come together)
10. A guard seats you.
11. Chilled bottled water costs less than 50 cents for a liter.
12. Popcorn, a large, is a dollar but light on the butter.
13. The ads are short and most of them are from the government about NSSO.  (I still have to look that up!)
14. The guard stays in the theater shining his light at us all ever so often to make sure we are in our assigned seats.
15. The movie starts with no direction to turn off cell phones or shush babies. 
16. Cell phones ring continually.
17. The film is in Hindi.  With no subtitles.  It is an American film and all the voices are done by what seems to me to be four people. (two men and two women)  One dialogue felt like it was the same woman doing the dialogue between two girls.
18.  During the film I am asked four times to give an order by swift footed young people offering to bring food at the intermission.  My favorite was when I was asked if I wanted "Pijja"  (z's and j's are interchangeable, hence the signs for Tarjan the Hero of the Jungle)
19. There is an intermission.  This was my favorite difference as my bladder was so thankful.
20. Okay so the strangest thing was that most everyone left before the end of the film.  They felt that when the two main characters survived that was enough.  The guard even opened the doors and everyone started leaving.  There was still two minutes or even three left.  The other guards came in and started playing with their flashlights.  I even started to pack up then I realized I had paid good money for the WHOLE movie and so I got my full 3.50 worth!!  

If you are ever in town maybe we could go to the theater together.  Or not!