1 = 3 (BH:D283)

May 15, 2012

A night owl friend drives up to Kalabhavan Theater to catch a second show. Kalabhavan is the state government owned and operated theater that plays movies doing the second round in the city after releasing in theaters located closer to the city center. I was tempted to use the expression downtown, but Thiruvananthapuram certainly has no downtown. It is a uniformly laid back town.

Even though the movies are well past their original release date, Kalabhavan attracts a fair amount of audience because the theater is relatively well maintained and ardent, noisy fans who are hell bent on not letting others watch the movie by their vociferous hero worship, are absent. Kalabhavan second shows are most preferred by those who consider themselves mature couples in the city.

Currently, the movie '3' is showing in the theater. Not the impressive German one that attracted packed showing in the last International Film Fest, but the Tamil one directed by Rajnikanth's daughter, starring her husband and featuring the international sensation 'Kolaveri' song. 

Friend finding parking comfortably in the small but empty lot. A man, who appears to be the watchman, hurries up to the car. Friend assumes that since he has cut it really close to the 9:30pm show timing, the man is coming to edge him on, as dedicated movie industry folks tend to do."Saare," the man asked, "Saarinu ee cinema thanne kanano?"(Do you really want to watch this particular movie, Sir?)

Now this was a strange question with multiple possible interpretation. Was the man discouraging a movie fan from making the wrong choice? Was he alluding to the reviews that trashed the apparently horrendous immature pretension of a film? Was he conspiring with other theaters to bring down a government run operation? Was he getting a commission from them? Ah! numerous movie worthy plots unfolded simultaneous from that question. 

Shelving them briefly, my friend asks"Entha prashnam?" (What is the problem?)"Alla Sir, Saaru mathrame ullu. Saarum koodi poyal enniku show nadathanda. Oralku vendi show venno Saar?" (Sir, you are the only one for the show. If you leave, I can cancel the show. Should we have a show for just one person?)"Hmm!" moment of reflection."Uchakkum show illayirunnu Saar. Aarum vannila"(There was no show in the afternoon as well. Nobody had come.)

The man had the look of an earnestly requested with his eyes. The request of the hopeful who might get to go home to his wife and kids before the usual very late hour. The situation was more comical than any entertainment that was hoped for from the viewing. Satisfied with the trip to theater, my friend left.

Had he been a fan who has sworn allegiance to the Rajnikanth clan, there wouldn't have been a choice. That family's honor must be protected. Every single show count. Even if there is only one watching '3'.