Yesterday I went with Aimee and Andrea to see my first Bollywood movie and I loved it. A couple of other newbies had made the venture to explore Bollywood cinema on Friday evening. We chose the same flick, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. It was described as the bachelor trip of the year.
The movie, whose titled I learned thanks to Heeru today means something like you don't live life twice, is a Bollywood film. It's in Hindi with a a bit of English here and there. I knew I could figure out what was happening without knowing the language since I'm surrounded in different languages while I shop, when I eat lunch and so this would be no big deal. It would provide an escape from things for a bit.
Of course, it takes time to actually get to your final destination. I thought the theatre was in one spot and I walked there. It took me about 15 minutes. I think an average person it woulda taken about 7. I quickly learned however, it was down the street so I hopped in a rick and got there easily. "Galaxy?" I asked. The rick driver knew it right away.
When the rick pulled up, I noticed there was definitely was a local crowd. Aimee had been there a bit and watched other movie goers. The key question being how to buy that precious ticket. One ticket booth area had advance purchases which cost 55 rupees. We walked past those lines and toward another window. Aimee purchased our tickets for 75 rupees each, roughly $1.63.
Our tickets were for the balcony. As we entered the theatre, we passed through the metal detector and our bags were searched. This is pretty common when you enter most malls in Mumbai.
We found the stairs that led to the balcony. And let me tell you , there were a lotta stairs. We went up at least to the third story of the theatre. Alright, this may be an exaggeration. My boot distorts my perception of distance. We found an area that had specific seats listed above the door. Of course our tickets didn't have seat numbers, or so we thought. We entered the huge theatre where the balcony alone seated several hundred people. The usher showed our purple tickets to the usher who used his flashlight to show us our seats which were in the top row, aisle. Our black leather seats did slide back so you could recline a bit.
While we chatted, several previews were shown. Then suddenly we noticed that everyone was standing. The screen revealed the answer. Men and women dressed in white singing the Indian national anthem while the flag waved behind them. The people around us stood silently. A family in front of us held hands.
We sat down and the movie began. In reality,the film wasn't a bachelor party at all. It was about three friends who had great fears: love, family and embracing their passion. This trip makes them all confront these fears and they do it in Spain. There's fun and passion and love all set in Spain while they drink wine, go on a road trip and grow. The movie's theme resonated with me in a very surface (Goo, let's go to Spain this summer) and then deeper (I'm following my passion and that led me to India) way.
About halfway through the movie, the lights went up. It was intermission. We didn't go and get snacks this time round but others did. The seats had filled in and there were people of all ages there. When the lights dimmed, about five minutes later, the usher pulled the curtains closed again.
The movie ended abruptly and went into a wedding song and dance number. The other movie goers jumped up from their seats and moved toward the new exit. Several pre-teen girls stared at us as we sat waiting. I had requested to wait a bit due to my boot so we saw the ending scene as well.
It was a great getaway for the afternoon. Cute movie. Very cute actors. A mix of Hindi and English. Dancing and of course Spain.
Here's the token song number, Senorita. Doesn't have a lot to do with the movie but they had to include some dancing and singing, right. Fun for sure.
For those of you readers who want even more. Here's the trailer but remember, it's in Hindi.
Bollywood, you are pretty wonderful. Thanks for making my afternoon just right.
The movie, whose titled I learned thanks to Heeru today means something like you don't live life twice, is a Bollywood film. It's in Hindi with a a bit of English here and there. I knew I could figure out what was happening without knowing the language since I'm surrounded in different languages while I shop, when I eat lunch and so this would be no big deal. It would provide an escape from things for a bit.
Of course, it takes time to actually get to your final destination. I thought the theatre was in one spot and I walked there. It took me about 15 minutes. I think an average person it woulda taken about 7. I quickly learned however, it was down the street so I hopped in a rick and got there easily. "Galaxy?" I asked. The rick driver knew it right away.
 |
| My simple ticket. |
We found the stairs that led to the balcony. And let me tell you , there were a lotta stairs. We went up at least to the third story of the theatre. Alright, this may be an exaggeration. My boot distorts my perception of distance. We found an area that had specific seats listed above the door. Of course our tickets didn't have seat numbers, or so we thought. We entered the huge theatre where the balcony alone seated several hundred people. The usher showed our purple tickets to the usher who used his flashlight to show us our seats which were in the top row, aisle. Our black leather seats did slide back so you could recline a bit.
While we chatted, several previews were shown. Then suddenly we noticed that everyone was standing. The screen revealed the answer. Men and women dressed in white singing the Indian national anthem while the flag waved behind them. The people around us stood silently. A family in front of us held hands.
We sat down and the movie began. In reality,the film wasn't a bachelor party at all. It was about three friends who had great fears: love, family and embracing their passion. This trip makes them all confront these fears and they do it in Spain. There's fun and passion and love all set in Spain while they drink wine, go on a road trip and grow. The movie's theme resonated with me in a very surface (Goo, let's go to Spain this summer) and then deeper (I'm following my passion and that led me to India) way.
About halfway through the movie, the lights went up. It was intermission. We didn't go and get snacks this time round but others did. The seats had filled in and there were people of all ages there. When the lights dimmed, about five minutes later, the usher pulled the curtains closed again.
The movie ended abruptly and went into a wedding song and dance number. The other movie goers jumped up from their seats and moved toward the new exit. Several pre-teen girls stared at us as we sat waiting. I had requested to wait a bit due to my boot so we saw the ending scene as well.
It was a great getaway for the afternoon. Cute movie. Very cute actors. A mix of Hindi and English. Dancing and of course Spain.
Here's the token song number, Senorita. Doesn't have a lot to do with the movie but they had to include some dancing and singing, right. Fun for sure.
For those of you readers who want even more. Here's the trailer but remember, it's in Hindi.
Bollywood, you are pretty wonderful. Thanks for making my afternoon just right.
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