"Navina Cinema ke pas."
I say this to a taxi driver about everyday. It has been my landmark for getting back to my flat or the past 10 months and it rarely fails. Every taxi driver seems to know right where Navina Cinema is...which is very good for me!
In South Asia there seem to be two types of movie theaters. The ones that are super nice and in malls. These rival any movie theater in America, I would say--slightly cheaper tickets, but only by a few dollars. Then there are the ones like Navina. They are small, they are not necessarily clean, and they are every couple of streets. I've been to the one in the mall several times, but never visited the ones like Navina. Mostly this is because the English movies only make it to the theaters in the mall. However, I had been curious about what this theater that I live next to and use as my landmark is like.
Well, I got my chance. A new Hindi, Bollywood film came out with Shahrukh Khan, a famous, rather handsome Bollywood actor, and Julie and I both wanted to go see it. What do you know, it was playing at Navina! Here was my chance!
So last night, Julie, a few friends from our college/career group, and I went. The tickets were only 80 rupees (that is roughly $1.50)! The inside was nicer than I was expecting. The seats had cushions, there were concessions (the South Asian sort of course), and although I did see a cockroach here and there, it was relatively clean. I was a fan!
Before the movie, we stood outside the theater for a while. Man, was it a hopping place! So many people love movies here, especially Bollywood films!
The movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan was in Hindi, and there were no English subtitles. Since I know about 5 words in Hindi, I wondered if this might be a problem. I read a movie plot summary before going so that, and the fact that about 1/3 of the film was set in London (which means 1/3 of the movie was in English), I was able to follow what was going on. It is also interesting that when people want to emphasize things when they are speaking, they say it in English. So, they may be talking along and then I hear, in English, "I love you!". Makes it easy to keep up with what is going on...however, the explitives also come out in English too...
Anyway, the movie was really good. I recommend it when I comes out on DVD with subtitles, especially if you haven't ever seen Bollywood before. I know I will be watching it again with the subtitles. :)
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| Me with my 80 rupee ticket! |
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| Shahrukh Khan's first appearance on the big screen--it causes quite a rise from the fans in the audience. |
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