Back in 1994 I think, it was in Class 3 that I first saw an English movie. Our school had decided to screen 'The Mask' in the school dining hall. I was obviously responsible for getting the kids in order and arranging for the equipment. The movie started at noon and though we had to finish off before departure, most of the kids did want to stay back. And that experience I'll never forget. Seated in one corner we clapped and clapped, until our hands could do no more and our lungs wore out. Somehow that day still rings a bell- how we sat down together, watching on a big screen with a hundred odd audience clapping in unison.
It was followed by bouts of Satyajit Ray at Nandan, and Aladdin with my mother and maternal grandfather during later years. It was thrice during that year, I think it was 1995 that I watched Jurassic Park. E.T. was the first sci-fi released and then, Steven Spielberg came out with another thriller. The whole city of Calcutta went electric. Tickets sold out, theaters packed and the crowd went berserk. Unable to find a seat at Nandan, we walked all the way to a dimly lit Chaplin. And then Delhi happened, with all that came misery and the pronounced effect of movies was rendered into a stress buster more than food for thought.
With the kind of movies they make these days, clapping is a tad too loud and laughter has turned to travesty. Seems like 'magic' has turned sore, or is it just the eyes. Like Gandhiji said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". I promise never to conquer another eye at the cost of misery and sorrow. Laughter is the best medicine and for the ignorance of another eye, laughter is the most promising feedback for myself. This is the second time I assert, or do I need to amidst all the melancholy?
The Times They Are a-Changing'!
And just for the correction note - it was not my first cinema really. I did watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly back in 1990 at home on the VCR. But I was too young to actually realize what was happening on the big screen.
It was followed by bouts of Satyajit Ray at Nandan, and Aladdin with my mother and maternal grandfather during later years. It was thrice during that year, I think it was 1995 that I watched Jurassic Park. E.T. was the first sci-fi released and then, Steven Spielberg came out with another thriller. The whole city of Calcutta went electric. Tickets sold out, theaters packed and the crowd went berserk. Unable to find a seat at Nandan, we walked all the way to a dimly lit Chaplin. And then Delhi happened, with all that came misery and the pronounced effect of movies was rendered into a stress buster more than food for thought.
With the kind of movies they make these days, clapping is a tad too loud and laughter has turned to travesty. Seems like 'magic' has turned sore, or is it just the eyes. Like Gandhiji said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". I promise never to conquer another eye at the cost of misery and sorrow. Laughter is the best medicine and for the ignorance of another eye, laughter is the most promising feedback for myself. This is the second time I assert, or do I need to amidst all the melancholy?
The Times They Are a-Changing'!
And just for the correction note - it was not my first cinema really. I did watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly back in 1990 at home on the VCR. But I was too young to actually realize what was happening on the big screen.
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