The boy turns 100

You would have watched a boy running on the road on the big screen in that cigarette smoke filled theatre. Sitting on the edge of that wooden bench, you would have witnessed him being chased by some goons.

The same boy was either a police inspector or a don in the next scene. This time, you watched him hitting his opponents. Now it was the time for his fans to welcome him with whistles and claps, with the ‘dhishum, dhishum’ sound running in the background. Some fans even went to the extent of throwing coins at the screen to welcome their hero.

Movie watching – either in the touring talkies or in the cinema theatre -- was a different experience altogether a few decades ago.

It was not the simultaneous release of some thousands of prints those days. Some of the small urban centres were getting the movie print a few weeks or months after it was released in major centres.

Either the announcements in autorickshaws with handbills handed over to the people or the posters on the corner of the road were the major attraction to watch the movie. The huge cut-outs of the star on the theatre premises were an added feature.

The popularity of the movie was determined by the amount at which the ticket was sold in black during those days. Higher the amount paid, most popular it was!

It was a beedi-smoking gatekeeper who would inspect your tickets and show you the seat in the movie hall with that small torchlight.

These days you get your favourite cola or popcorn served to your seats in multiplexes. However, that small packet of peanuts bought outside the movie hall tasted more than anything else then.

Indian cinema is 100 years now. The boy you watched running on the road on that big single screen then can be watched on multi screens now. You can download that movie on your mobile, tablet and laptop. If you do not want to do that, one of those television channels would be showing it to you time and again.