I am not about to trash or glorify any particular theatre or
multiplex, that’s not what this article is all about. My intentions are far
more humble, as I am not an expert on the subject. I am just going to put down
my thoughts and leave it for you to come to a decision, if any.
To answer the question in the title, I like to visit theatres for the
experience. However expensive and time consuming the entire jaunt may be, I go
for the huge screens, the awesome audio, the comfortable seats, the aroma of
pop corn, the juicy hot dogs, and the opportunity to share your
feelings/emotions/reactions with a whole bunch of complete strangers. I even
like watching the rushes of upcoming movies and some of the ads. However, when
such ads and trailers become "filler-ins", they border on annoyance.
Theatre owners/managers tend to repeat these ads and trailers to cover up for
the lack of anything else worth showing.
People say there is no alternative to watching a movie in a theatre, which I don’t
think is entirely true. These days, home theatre systems and mega sized TVs are
common place in the market and with the EMI phenomenon, part of every
upper-middle class household. So, despite having a very good alternative to
theatres, like watching movies at home (replete with microwave pop corn and
sausages), we still brave the traffic to get into movie halls. At home we have
the luxury of designing our comfortable surroundings, taking control of the
movie and watching it without commercials. There is also the privilege of
choosing your company, or more precisely, controlling the audience. You even
have significant control on the content being viewed. If you think some
portions are not suited to the audience, you can simply skip these with the
press of a button on your remote, the ubiquitous mother of all inventions… :)
In essence, absolute and complete control lies with you. In
contrast, theatres and the Censor Board determine what you can or cannot view. In
India,
we endure two levels of censorship. The Censor Board is (and should always
remain) the prime adjudicator in matters of content censorship. We will not get
into the debate of whether that is right or not, and whether it infringes on
the audiences right to choosing what they should or should not view. That Pandora’s
Box is not in purview of this article as I don’t have the expertise or the
authority required to comment on it.
The second level of censorship lies at the hands of the
theatre’s management. Their sole objective is to make money in whatever manner
feasible. Very often, they give higher priority to ads than to the actual movie.
To this end, they frequently resort to clipping some scenes to ensure that the movie
doesn’t eat up into the following show. Some theatres would rather show ads in
order to generate that extra revenue, instead of showing the complete movie.
At the end of the show, I feel I have been cheated and
denied my moneys worth. If I may say so, very little bang for the buck! If I am
paying a premium to watch a movie in theatres, the least I expect is for the
management to supersede customer satisfaction/needs over their petty revenue
generation schemes. Important issues like seating comfort, leg and elbow room
are over looked. To demonstrate my point, let’s take a look into the PVR
Cinemas in Bangalore.
Apart from the Gold Class, which is even more exorbitant, there are two groups
of theatres, Cinema Europa and Cinema Classic. In the former, seating
arrangements are top-notch and miles ahead of the Classic group of theatres. So,
after shelling out a bomb for tickets to the Classic theatres, where the seats
are very cramped, I have to endure ads that are repeated. Imagine seeing back
to back ads (which are anything but creative) of a premium “double refined” sugar
product! I don’t believe I paid to be tortured with such mediocrity.
As you all know, driving and parking in Bangalore can be a nightmare and a very
stressful endeavor. So, I think it is time theatre owners/managers take
cognizance of this fact and find the recourse. That’s the least they can do for
their customers. Many of you agree and identify with my observations, while
surely enough, many of you would not. My only request is that we speak up and not
just let things pass, which is very common in India. We’d rather avoid
confrontation or controversy and accept things as they are.
This is not to discourage you from watching movies in a
theatre, but to let you know that you can make a difference. The more you visit
theatres, the greater your level of awareness. This will eventually translate
into getting better service for every Rupee that you spend. :)