70 mm
Meenu hugged her small bag while waiting to cross the road. The road with the incessant vehicles flying past stood between her and the massive building that had taken shape in the last few months. Even as Meenu, all of 15 years lifted her head to admire the sprawling theatre complex that stood before her, a surge of excitement went through her. All the vehicles hurrying to reach their destination had been stopped by a hand under whose control they were, at least momentarily. The man in white could at his will and wish command an entire array of the most powerful to stop and start. Now was his turn to ask them to stop. In doing so, he gave Meenu her 1 minute of freedom to cross the road. But Meenu, as though worried that the policeman might change his mind too soon, rushed to reach her target. The signal timer would have recorded it as 31 seconds.
“Sir, one ticket please”, she asked the man giving out tickets at the counter.
“Do you want the special or the balcony young lady?”
“What can I get for Rs 30 Sir?”
“That would be the special”.
“Thanks Sir”
“Don’t you have someone older accompanying you?”
“Umm.. No.”
“Hope you enjoy the movie”, said the man and smiled.
Meenu emerged triumphant, clutching her tickets and went into the big complex. So someone had called her a lady. She was growing up fast.
The mighty posters proclaiming the upcoming actors and actresses always managed to hold her fascination. She wanted to touch them but was scared someone would shout at her, so she just continued staring at them, her mouth wide open taking in all that those images stated. She felt they spoke a certain language and depending on who stared at it, it would change, just like the movies.
A line had quickly formed before the ENTRY door and she joined in, wanting to be part of that journey, a journey into that fantasy land. She went in and sat down at C-10. This was so special after all, she was so much closer to that big screen spread out in front of her, currently advertising some diamond jewellery. She looked on as the stones seemed to sparkle, and it seemed to reach almost till her, so close that, all she had to do was reach out her tiny fingers and she could touch the ray, the sparkle. When the silver screen seemed to be showing sparkling diamonds, the sparkling shifted from being a verb to a noun, an object she could touch and feel and feel it seep all through her. The feeling of aura had already begun to take over. She had saved some money out of her meager weekly allowance that her parents granted her, and supplemented it with putting Mehendi to excited girls at the stall to make it to this movie and maybe one more. She felt no guilt about watching this movie as she felt she had earned the right to be here.
The massive screen soon exploded with loud music and images began to form in front of her and as ever they held her in a state of rapture. She felt so oblivious to what was happening in the seats beside her and all that mattered was what happened in that big screen in front of her. Within the confines of the wall here all differences died down and the man in front of her was speaking to her as much as he was to the rich old man beside her.
She did not realize the time go by so quickly and now before her was the Knight proclaiming to his princess that the greatest thing is to love and being loved in return. As he said how he can take even a bullet for her, Meenu’s eyes were filled and she wondered about her Knight in shining armour. She wondered if it was really possible to find such a man and if a passion so great really exists. She believed that reel life was really an extension of real life and so if they say so in movies then it sure must. She closed her eyes for just a second to let the tears flow down and as she did so the lights came on declaring an intermission.
She was gripping the chair as the man gripped his woman around her waist talking about his dreams. Those few hours when Meenu was in front of the large screen, the illusion took over and became the reality. This was her world, the reel that became real. Each man and each woman to his own thoughts and emotions as the men and women behind the scenes bring their emotions to play in front of that wonder device – the camera. As the images before her slowly gave way to text and the lights came on, reality took over once again.
Meenu was out in the streets again but with so much to mull over about what had transpired those two hours, which seemed to evoke magic in her every time she was part of the cinema experience. As she was waiting to cross the road, she promised herself she would one day be part of the all that activity behind the scenes that helped merge so many illusory worlds into realities.
“Sir, one ticket please”, she asked the man giving out tickets at the counter.
“Do you want the special or the balcony young lady?”
“What can I get for Rs 30 Sir?”
“That would be the special”.
“Thanks Sir”
“Don’t you have someone older accompanying you?”
“Umm.. No.”
“Hope you enjoy the movie”, said the man and smiled.
Meenu emerged triumphant, clutching her tickets and went into the big complex. So someone had called her a lady. She was growing up fast.
The mighty posters proclaiming the upcoming actors and actresses always managed to hold her fascination. She wanted to touch them but was scared someone would shout at her, so she just continued staring at them, her mouth wide open taking in all that those images stated. She felt they spoke a certain language and depending on who stared at it, it would change, just like the movies.
A line had quickly formed before the ENTRY door and she joined in, wanting to be part of that journey, a journey into that fantasy land. She went in and sat down at C-10. This was so special after all, she was so much closer to that big screen spread out in front of her, currently advertising some diamond jewellery. She looked on as the stones seemed to sparkle, and it seemed to reach almost till her, so close that, all she had to do was reach out her tiny fingers and she could touch the ray, the sparkle. When the silver screen seemed to be showing sparkling diamonds, the sparkling shifted from being a verb to a noun, an object she could touch and feel and feel it seep all through her. The feeling of aura had already begun to take over. She had saved some money out of her meager weekly allowance that her parents granted her, and supplemented it with putting Mehendi to excited girls at the stall to make it to this movie and maybe one more. She felt no guilt about watching this movie as she felt she had earned the right to be here.
The massive screen soon exploded with loud music and images began to form in front of her and as ever they held her in a state of rapture. She felt so oblivious to what was happening in the seats beside her and all that mattered was what happened in that big screen in front of her. Within the confines of the wall here all differences died down and the man in front of her was speaking to her as much as he was to the rich old man beside her.
She did not realize the time go by so quickly and now before her was the Knight proclaiming to his princess that the greatest thing is to love and being loved in return. As he said how he can take even a bullet for her, Meenu’s eyes were filled and she wondered about her Knight in shining armour. She wondered if it was really possible to find such a man and if a passion so great really exists. She believed that reel life was really an extension of real life and so if they say so in movies then it sure must. She closed her eyes for just a second to let the tears flow down and as she did so the lights came on declaring an intermission.
She was gripping the chair as the man gripped his woman around her waist talking about his dreams. Those few hours when Meenu was in front of the large screen, the illusion took over and became the reality. This was her world, the reel that became real. Each man and each woman to his own thoughts and emotions as the men and women behind the scenes bring their emotions to play in front of that wonder device – the camera. As the images before her slowly gave way to text and the lights came on, reality took over once again.
Meenu was out in the streets again but with so much to mull over about what had transpired those two hours, which seemed to evoke magic in her every time she was part of the cinema experience. As she was waiting to cross the road, she promised herself she would one day be part of the all that activity behind the scenes that helped merge so many illusory worlds into realities.
posted by OtherHalf at 12:18 AM
2 Comments:
It was a wonderful start - all the innocence captured without getting caught in the dead ends of your neural pathways. Cinemas are infact the closest we have to time machines or as dear calvin would say, a transmogrifier. All are allowed to: escape into the past, live in the future, fight as a warrior, love as a romeo and think as a feynman, for just that fleeting two hours... fundoo, isn't it?
ps: I was expecting an insanely sad ending (as in some of your poems) but glad i was disappointed!
@lil'cow
This story had its beginnings in a new theatre complex in this obsure town. Three movies in a row and reminiscences of those days of yore spent gaping at the silver screen and i had to take the lappie and go full spree.
Well, I just had to bring out the pervasive effect that cinema has in our lives, one moment weeping, the other just fighting to hold onto the seat from fear of cracking up (literally!).
oh yes, it sure is fundoo how we can escape into make believe worlds if only for those fleeting two hours.
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