My filmy world

As far back as I can remember, I've always loved watching movies. Perhaps I picked up this trait from my father who watches just about any movie that is playing on TV, doesn't matter if the movie is about to end or is being shown for the nth time. Every movie is watched with equal amount of enthusiasm as if it is being watched for the first time.

In the late 80's and mid 90's and which were my growing years, if you wanted to watch a movie, you could - go to the cinema, wait for the weekly movie on doordarshan or watch it on the VCR. Watching a movie in a cinema used to be an occasion for the family. We would all get dressed up, pack wafers, biscuits, chocolates, water etc in a carry bag and ride away to the cinema on my dad's scooter. In the interval I would pester my parents for popcorn and cold drinks or in the middle of the movie I would ask my dad to take me to the toilet. I used to enjoy watching the Vicco advertisement at the beginning of the movie. All in all it was a fun experience. Sadly, today I never get the same kind of feeling when I go out to watch a movie. As years went by our trips to the Cinema reduced due to various reasons. But the charm of movies did not die. I used to eagerly wait for the weekly Hindi movie which was shown on Doordarshan. I remember the streets used to be deserted on days when a movie was telecasted on Doordarshan. Hard to imagine something like this today.

Around the same time a phenomenon called VCR had hit the Indian markets. Only a privileged few had one in their homes. I wasn’t among those few. Somehow I realized that the reason we did not have a VCR was probably because it was something which my parents could not afford at that time. I had no complaints about it. One of my friends in the neighborhood had a VCR in his house. So naturally he was our best friend and we used to pay him a visit often. It was important to be in good terms with him so that we would be invited over to his house every time he brought a movie. On any given Sunday if you saw a huge pile of slippers outside his door, you could be sure that the entire neighborhood is watching a movie inside. And you could also be sure that I was among them. Its difficult to remember the number of movies I might have watched in his house, since there are so many.

But everything was not rosy about going to someone’s house to watch a movie. You had to be sensitive to their privacy. At lunch time we used to disperse leaving the movie half finished and with a promise that we will continue it after lunch. I used to rush home and grab a bite so that I would not miss any of the remaining movie. I would then linger outside his house, waiting for his call to come in or sometimes even peeping from his window to confirm that they have not yet started the movie. At times I would feel apprehensive about knocking on his door to be let in.

Somewhere this was noticed by my parents and they decided to get a second hand VCR. That day was one of the happiest days for me. The VCR came, a stand was purchased to keep it, a cover was prepared to protect it from dust and a whole load of instructions were given to me on how to use it. Within no time I got membership at the local video library and rented my first movie which I still remember. Frequently My dad used to take me to the cassette shop to buy movies. In a few years I had a collection of some 25-30 movies which I had watched repeatedly. It used to be a proud day for me when all the other kids in the neighborhood used to come to my house to watch a movie. Obviously the remote control would be in my hand and it was up to me when I did a rewind, fast forward or pause. BTW the remote control was attached to the VCR by a wire in those days unlike the wireless remote controls we have today.

With the advent of Cable TV, the charm of VCR's began to die down and towards the end of 90's Cable TV had completely taken over. My VCR was lying there gathering dust and my entire video cassette collection was giving it company. Finally two yrs back I decided to sell off my prized possession and could get a mere Rs 500 for it. But I'm sure wherever it is, it is resting in peace. The fascination for movies has not died down though. I am as interested in watching movies as I was in my childhood. Im sure my old age will be spent sitting on a rocking chair and going through my movie collection. So the future doesn't look too bad.