Filmy Chakkar!

When someone asks what you remember the most about your childhood, you will say, apart from the usual school memories and fun with friends, the movies you watched with your family. Those Sunday afternoons or evenings when the whole lot went to see the new blockbusters. Your dad rushing everyone at home because: “Houseful hogaya to phir se black mein ticket lena padhta, iske wastey jaldi chaloi ji!” In my case it was my mother. She was a total movie buff. 

Those were the days when movie-goers used to wait in long queues outside the booking counters at theatres, week in advance, to get tickets to movies of their favourite cine stars. The excitement was palpable – the huge hand-painted posters and cut-outs, the first-day crowds, the eagerness of grabbing your seats inside the theatre and not missing the beginning.

Back in those days Hyderabad had quite a lot of twin-theather concept. Consisting of 35mm and 70mm in the same compound, showcasing two different films at any given time (hence it was guaranteed that you will end up watching some or the other film ultimately and not going back home dishearten). 

It's also notable that the 35mm screens were relatively small showcasing less popular films while the 70mm consists of gigantic screen where all big budget (essentially all starring Mr Bachchan Sr) films would be screened at.

Most of these twin-theatres were in the vicinity of Kachiguda to Abids road of Hyderabad city including Santosh-Sapna, Shaheen-Farheen (later changed to Surya), Venkatramana-Prabhat, Ramakrishna twin-talkies and the famous Maheshwari-Parmeshwari to name a few. 

RTC X Roads too had numerous twin-theatres but we would rarely go there as they were reserved only for Telugu films. However when I grew up, I have seen equally many movies in those theatres with my friends.

Needless to say I remember almost all the theatres however these WERE few of my most favourite ones…

1. Maheshwari and Parmeshwari: These twin theatres came up in the 80s and showcased only Hindi films. They soon came to be known as The Glamour Queens of Hyderabad. Owned by T Subbirami Reddy, these twin-theatres became famous for their decor and architecture, not to forget the escalator, probably the first in public space in Hyderabad, which was almost a major tourist attraction during those days.

2. Ramakrishna 35mm and 70mm: These twin theatres with the same name was owned by the legend NT Rama Rao and showcased only Hindi films. I vividly remember the huge Natraj statue in the lobby area and various nartaki on the outer facade.

3. Skyline and Sterling: These twin-theatres were situated in a by-lane in Basheerbagh little further away from the Abids area. But it was the landmark of Basheerbagh. There was plenty of parking, huge space, with nice eating joints around. These screens showcased only English blockbusters like Congo, Chicago, Titanic, and a whole lot of Superman and Batman movies to name a few. I remember watching Sharon Stone’s Basic Instinct which ran for close to a year in Sterling!

For me going early to a theatre had my own personal hidden agenda. I would secretly get plenty of time to admire the 'hand-painted posters'. I used to literally study each and every aspect of the poster and grasp the composition so distinctly, that the we get back home, I would sketch it out in my scrap book for future reference. I guess my love for art came from here. The lobby cards were another added attractions that I used to admire and love.

Anyway coming back to the theatre, the seating would have quaint names like "Dress circle"/"Balcony"/"Box"! inside the big dark auditorium, a guy in carrying a torch would take you in, and show you the seat. 

A bell would ring, and the deep maroon velvet curtains would rise slowly, displaying the screen. We would wait with bated breath for the film to start. But have go through some slides, ads, then the "Films Division Presents" before the main movie started. And yes, we called it "film"/ "cinema" never "movie". The films were in "Eastman-Colour" and there was something called "Cinema-Scope". I don't know what that brand of film was. But I used to enjoy the films mostly shown on the 70mm screen.

During the interval the curtains would come down again and it's the perfect break to go out to use the loo or stretch our legs or buy samosas, popcorn or chips. Sometimes we would have a "Cool/Cold-drink" (not "soft drink" mind you). Then rushing back inside the auditorium until we saw "The End". 

We would come home discussing the film all along the way. Sometimes we would go to a nearby restaurant afterwards for dinner but that was very rare! Later, over the week we would narrate the story to our other relatives and friends - frame by frame! 

The magic of the cinema died after we started watching films on video and now on Prime Amazon or Netflix etc. We do go to watch 'movies' in the theatre even now, however that magic of the "Silver Screen" of our childhood is definitely lost.