100% Love on the Single Screen

'No 100% Love this weekend' I thought as the tickets for the movie were over in all the multiplexes. Life bhi saala gaandu hain. 

For once, you feel like wanting/doing something and circumstances will conspire to make sure that you don't get it easily. (Opposite of what was said in Alchemist).  

'Forget it', I  said to myself as an irritating Friday ended on an even more disappointing note.

Working on a Saturday isn't easy. Half of the day is lost in cribbing that you are unfortunate to work on a Saturday. The mind is looking for the slightest opportunity to do something that I normally used to do on a 5 day week Saturday. 

My phone buzzed and I got a message. Who could it be? May be another stupid TD-something message asking me to download some silly song. Nope , it was something better. 

It was my friend Kishore and it read ' Booked tickets for 100% Love at Sri Sai Ranga cinema hall for the second show.'  Haa.. Paulo Coelho wasn't kidding in Alchemist for sure :)

We reached the cinema hall at 8:55 pm. There was a long queue about  10m long that reminded me of the serpentine queue  to Lord Balaji in Chilkur temple.  The devotees in this case were so damn determined to meet their God ( the guy at the counter)  and get the Prasad ( tickets for the next day's show) . 

Over the last few years,  using this site called bookmyshow.com meant that I never encountered these queues. I was reminded of the days when getting movie tickets on the first day standing in the queue or through some contact in the movie hall was something that you could be proud of.

We entered the hall and sat in our seats. It was as if we sat in an APSRTC regular- no -frills bus. My bum had become so accustomed to the layers of cushion in the Rs 150 Multiplex tickets. Rs 40 meant that we got only this much. But somehow I felt good. It was like the spicy mom cooked home food that one gets to savor after a long onsite assignment where bland food is the only option.

It was my nose's turn to get nostalgic. This was this whiff of air that I was so familiar with watching a Chiranjeevi movie in college bunking some class. 

The whiff of air that I last smelt when I saw the movie 'Kick' a few years back in the Odeon movie hall on the RTC X Roads. I heard somewhere that  all those movie halls will be converted to multiplexes soon. Am I missing on something because of the modernization?

It was a hot day and we felt good today sitting inside the movie hall. It was a different kind of AC to the one that we find in multiplexes today. This was like the wind that blows across your face  when you stand in front of an air cooler. 

In the last movie that I saw at the Big Cinemas Multiplex, I wasn't sure if the AC was switched on. I felt much better in the hall today.

I accidentally hit the glass cold drink (yeah NOT soft drinks, I first knew them as cold drinks) bottle with my leg.  As it rolled on the ground, it made a sound that was so used to as a kid. It was the sound the hawker made striking the bottle opener against the glass cold drink bottles. It was at a time when drinking cold drinks in the interval was something as eagerly awaited as the hero's entry in the movie. 

The movie started and the hero made his entry. There was a huge uproar in the hall accompanied by whistles. There were whistles , cat calls  and huge roars of laughter  for every interesting scene in the movie.  

Multiplexes over the years seemed to have turned movie watching into an art appreciation class rather than the mass entertainment it used to be. After a long 6 day week, I needed some entertainment  and I was loving it here.

During the interval, I was tempted by the sight of the onion samosas.

" I want to taste it. Give me a bit of nostalgia too !!",  my tongue exclaimed. 

" I am full after that heavy dinner.  Please don't stuff that into me ", my tummy seemed to say.

" You are no longer in your teens, you moron. You are almost 30 and you need some discretion especially when it comes to eating ",  my mind screamed at me.

I listened to it and proceeded to have coffee for Rs 10 . There was no Popcorn+  Soft drink+ Nachos Salsa  hole in my pocket . Ah.. It felt so good.

After an hour, the movie ended. 100% Love was ok. But the experience was more than 100% fulfilling. I have just realized the joy that an nostalgic experience  can give us. And I am loving it :)