Then and Now! Is Life The Same? Can we enjoy both?

The timeline is 1976. Place: my Madurai. I told my Dad.
"I want to see MGR's film, Neethikku Thalai Vanangu." Can I go this Sunday afternoon?"
"Good movie. You can go. Here's Rs.2.25 Rs. 1.45 for the ticket, 25 paise for the busfare to the theatre. With the rest you can have some snacks during interval and come back home by bus. I expect you home by 6."
"Thanks Dad."
That was a bonanza by the standards of that time. A greater bonanza if seen against our family's finances at that time.
Those days the balcony tickets started with 1.45. And above that were Rs. 2 and Rs. 2.90 tickets.
The film was running in Central Theatre about 3 and a half miles from our home. I got into the bus and was in the theatre an hour before the show time.
The film had been running for 50 days. But it was MGR's film. So it was still crowded. When I went to the counter I learnt that Rs.1.45 tickets were sold out. And there were only a few Rs.2 tickets. I was hell-bent on seeing the movie on that day. So unmindful of consequences I got the 2 Rs ticket and walked in with pride.
Nothing to eat during the interval. That was okay. It was only when the film ended that I realised that I did not have the money to go back home. Of course the bus ticket was just 25 paise. But I had no money. Period.

Humming a song from that movie I walked the entire distance home. I was very happy that day for I had seen the movie and got a nice sleep, because of the walking.

Cut the scene. Move up 30 years in the timeline. Timeline B. 21st November,2007. My daughter says, "Dad, shall we go for a movie today?"
My wife and daughter had decided to go to Om Shanthi Om running in Satyam. By 9 30 I logged into the Net and booked the tickets. (Elite class cost Rs. 120 per ticket plus Rs. 5 service charges) Went to the theatre just 10 minutes before time. Picked up our tickets and moved in.
Sathyam theatre is a different world. Today's Sathyam is better than some theatres I saw in the US. If you are there, don't forget to visit the toilet. It's a state of the art facility.
In 76 when I had to go to the theatre's toilet it was a nightmarish experience. In a toilet designed for use by 12 men at a time, there were 85 men all waiting for their turns.
In Sathyam the toilet capacity is 15 and there were hardly 10 men even during the interval.
Popcorn costs Rs. 50. Large pack Rs.70. Softdrink was Rs. 40.
The accountant in me was wide awake. The per person expenditure today was about 100 times what I spent in 1976 for the MGR movie. OSO was good. But definitely not 100 times better than Neethikku Thalaivanangu.
But that's a silly comparison which is going to take us nowhere.

Was I happy then? Am I happy now?
I was happy on both the ocassions. Many things have changed, some beyond recognition. I could enjoy both.
My friend used to lament, "Dude, we were born in a wrong time. We should have been born at least twenty years later. We would have enjoyed the software salaries and the call centre's life style"
I don't agree with him. It's a blessing to be born somewhere between the two eras. That was the reason I could enjoy Neethikku Thalai Vanangu as well as OSO. To be able to enjoy both is a blessing I cherish. Thank God.
Love,

Hi Sridhar,
Very true. You cannot enjoy a movie today without a heavily loaded
purse Sathyam ,Inox, Mayajaal all the multiplexes have a variety of snacks,you are not allowed to take eatables inside.God! you cannot enjoy a movie today without making a trip to the snack counter all of which cost a fortune. I remember going to the Shanthi theatre, when i was a kid, with box ticktets, much cheaper than what it was today.I seem to have enjoyed that part of my life and now also I am enjoying myself, but not without being surprised at the way movie viewing ways have changed.
Enjoyed your post.
In the movie Neethikku Thalai vanangu there is a song by Varalaskhmi, i love to listen to it even now" Indha Pachaikilli oru Sevandhi poovil".Woww!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Janani,

In fact that was the song which I was humming when I walked home. I liked Varalakshmi's rendering and more than that Jesudoss' rendering the same song. The lyrics would be different for Jesudoss.

I especially remember the lines,

"Padhai thavariya kaalkal virumbia oor senru servathillai.
sila panbu thavariya pillaiyai petraval per solli vazhvathillail"

To be honest with you these two lines almost became my life's motto and gave me the strength to wade through my life.

I have heard about the cost of tickets in Mayajal, Inox etc. Today I could see it for myself.

Thanks for the post, Janani.
regards,

sridhar,

The then and now time line has changed a lot for me....during my childhood never struggled for anything...seen movies as soon as they came in as cassettes...

During my working days, hostel days seen lot of movies with friends..and some movies with veda...oh the arguments after the movies about the music, the lyrics, the characters it was worth it.....

after marriage have seen just one movie...it so happened, on our first anniversary we were planning to go to a movie...fil said i have not been to a movie for so long..so had to take him along....(ofcourse he proudly says that to all family members today....)....

that was the last movie i have seen in the hall..it is almost 14 years..i don't like to go to movie theatre...and veda is crazy about watching in the theatre....somehow i have managed not going so far.....and the accountant's daughter and wife..in me never can justify this crazy cost...

(Hope veda does not see this thread...)

Dear Sridhar,
Its a strange coincidence that you have written about that film and all the more strange is the fact is that i was looking for the name of the film in which the same song you have mentioned occurs.My search ends here. Cool! i love the song.

"yendha kuzhandaiyum nalla kuzhandaidAn mannil pirakayile,
pin nallavarAvadum TheeyavarAvadum annai valarpadile......"

So much of facts packed into the song!
I was never interested in movies actually, but my father used to take us to Rajnikanth's movie. His movies are the only one we would watch in theatre, so i don't remember much of the then timeline of the plight of theatres.
But definitely recent time theatres are booming with very sophisticated infra structure!! Indeed High-Class!!
Few years back i happenned to develop a liking towards Rani mukerjee and i have never missed out on her films and i make it a point to watch it only in Sathyam. Sathyam is only a 15 minute drive from my house and INOX is 5 mintues by walk.Boon to live in mylapore! Its always been my sister and me going to movies. My husband has a diehard aversion to movies. So, i have never watched movies with him, except for our first movie after marriage, for which i had to literally drag him to the theatre! I still cannot forget how he was fuming at me!Really funny it was!!!!
So, theatres are not really eating away our purses.
Yes, right now you seem to be obsessed with the timelines.
A factual timeline between fictitious timelines !!!

Shanthi,

There is this kind of time-line distinction in vritually every one. We always compare then and now. Unlike the timelines in Varalotti's story, these then and timelines will never meet.

Interesting to learn about your film-going habits. When I was a child video was unheard of. In fact when my marriage was videotaped, it was almost the first in our family. We had to go to a theatre. In a place like Madurai that was probably the only entertainment we had.

Even now if the movie is good, I love to see it in a theatre. I saw Mozhi three times in a theatre. Of course the highest ticket was just Rs.30 and pop corn Rs.5. Cool drinks Rs.7, there in Madurai.

As an accountant I do agree with your cost consciousness. But once in a way you should throw away those rules and have a nice time.

I would love to go to a movie only with my wife and/or daughter. But if the movie is really good, I love to go for it all alone, at least once. That I think is the best way of enjoying it. Ever since I finished my CA apprenticeship I have stopped going to a movie with my friends.

Hope veda does not see this thread...

Let me do some naradhar velai. Let me pm veda giving him the links to this thread. ha ha ha.
regards,

Dear Padma,

I know almost all the lines of the song by heart. I also like these lines,

Aaru karaiyil adangi nadandidil kaadu valam peralam.
enrum nalla nerri kandu pillai nadanthidil naadum nalam peralam.

and the following too,

thooka marunthinai ponravai petravar potrum pukazhuraikal
Noi theerkkum marunthinai ponravai katravar koorum arivuraikal

The concept of timelines lends a very distinguishing characteristic both to our memories and to our experiences.
When I am working on my laptop using some advanced excel functions like vlookup and analyse a thousand records, I remember my first few days of training for CA. We were given manually written ledgers (computers were unheard off in 1978 when I started apprenticing) for just totalling up. We had to do it from 10 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon. Start again at 2 and finish at 5, of course two coffeebreaks of not more than 15 minutes were allowed.
Given todays technology the work looks silly. But it taught us a lot of patience and made us fall in love with numbers. The love affair continues till today.

I know, to live in Mylapore, is the closest to heavan. But at times it gets way too crowded. A few years back I had been to a flat to meet a bank official. I was simply stunned by the density of human population per square foot. I think the Mandaiveli bus stand and the tank area will report the highest density in the whole world.

In the same way you complain against your husband, my wife does against me. She is a die-hard Vijai fan and would like to see his movie in the theatre everytime. I find that every other movie of his is an intolerable flop and so I refuse to go with her. She has a set of friends with whom she goes for the Vijai movies.

I think it is veettukku veedu vasarpadi.....

Stay tuned for the fictitious timeline. Less than 60 hours to go.
regards,

Originally Posted by varalotti

Shanthi,

There is this kind of time-line distinction in vritually every one. We always compare then and now. Unlike the timelines in Varalotti's story, these then and timelines will never meet.

Interesting to learn about your film-going habits. When I was a child video was unheard of. In fact when my marriage was videotaped, it was almost the first in our family. We had to go to a theatre. In a place like Madurai that was probably the only entertainment we had.

Even now if the movie is good, I love to see it in a theatre. I saw Mozhi three times in a theatre. Of course the highest ticket was just Rs.30 and pop corn Rs.5. Cool drinks Rs.7, there in Madurai.

As an accountant I do agree with your cost consciousness. But once in a way you should throw away those rules and have a nice time.

I would love to go to a movie only with my wife and/or daughter. But if the movie is really good, I love to go for it all alone, at least once. That I think is the best way of enjoying it. Ever since I finished my CA apprenticeship I have stopped going to a movie with my friends.

Let me do some naradhar velai. Let me pm veda giving him the links to this thread. ha ha ha.
regards,

Hi sridhar,

My concept of watching movies is different...i am a movie buff...

It is not the cost that does not allow me to go for a movie...i like to see movies sitting in our home..with the kids sprawled on our laps..if it is family movie..with bowls of popcorn and tea,milk....

dad got us a vcp when i was in the 5th standard..and we used to have this man who used to deliver the latest movies home.....

..i can understand 6 languages..and i like both commercial and art movies....

and you have to see the discussions we have after the movie or in between all that fun is not possible in a theatre... and we have this very bad habit of fast forwarding the songs..which cannot happen in the theatre...

though i agree once in a while is ok

...i like to see movies sitting in our home..with the kids sprawled on our laps..if it is family movie..with bowls of popcorn and tea,milk....
..i can understand 6 languages..and i like both commercial and art movies....

and you have to see the discussions we have after the movie or in between all that fun is not possible in a theatre... and we have this very bad habit of fast forwarding the songs..which cannot happen in the theatre...

Well, Shanthi, you make seeing movie at home quite an interesting affair. I think there is a timeline-difference between the time I grew up and you grew up. Even when I was in college, Sony had not yet invented the video tape. Theatres were our only recreation.

Interestingly this brings us to another time-line difference. In my days we used to go to a theatre for a movie and come back home for dinner. Now we go out for dinner and come back home to see a movie.

Kidding apart, timeline differences apart, I admire your taste and your aesthetic sense.

regards,

Dear Varalotti,

Watching movies in a theatre is really fun... That too with family and friends... Popcorn and snacks in the interval etc.... I used to enjoy that when I was a bachelor, though I have gone for only a few movies....

After marriage.... Shan has already said it.... Though I would love to go out for some of the nice movies... She will immediately come out with an alternate plan... in CD at home with nice bajjis/bondas/coffee..... Me and my kids will fall flat for that and stay back.... Then it will be rolling in front of the TV.... Me and my son enjoy eating.... We cant take anything in small quantities... so we enjoy the movies with nice eats....

Me and my kids enjoy nature/family/animals/Bhakthi movies.... We will have good times... I have to in a way thank her for developing this... Me being a workaholic, and not able to spend much time with family... this helped me to develop a close bond with my kids and I can spend more time and enjoy with them their childhood days...