The movie experience here is a little different than in the US. Here are some of my observations:
- Movie schedules change on Fridays, just like back home, but unlike the US, you cannot find out what is playing until Friday morning. Sometimes, you can find out on Thursday - but only from the website of one of the theaters, and the site is usually not working.
- Ticket prices are based on day of the week, time of day, projected popularity of the movie and where you sit in the theater. For instance, a seat in the back row of popular Bollywood film showing late Sunday afternoon or evening will cost the most - maybe $5. But a seat on the front row of a not so popular Hollywood film on weekday morning could cost as little as $1.40.
- Yes, the back row is the most expensive since people here think those seats are the best. The front row is the cheapest and there is no difference in cost between the 2nd highest row or the 2nd lowest row and those in between We always go for the middle and rarely is anyone in front of us unless the theater is packed.
- So, yes, there are assigned seats and you get to pick from a diagram exactly where you want to sit. I like this alot! So, the early bird can buy his tickets and choose his seats and then roam around the mall for a little while without worrying about making a mad dash for seats when the theater doors open. (See #8)
- Before each film showing, everyone has to stand for a film clip of famous vocalists singing the national anthem. It's quite pretty, but it is in Sanskrit, so only those who learn the meaning in school understand the lyrics.
- There is an intermission at exactly the half-way mark of every movie. They call this the "interval". At one theater, during the break, on the screen was what looked like a filmed piece of scratch paper that had "INTER VEEL" on it. It was also in that particular theater that Jerry had to keep one eye on the screen and his other eye on the rat that was running around. (We have not been back to that theater.) Bollywood films tend to be 3+ hours, so I understand the need for the break, but there is even a break in a 1.5 hour film. During the interval, the theater staff come filing in with snacks and beverages to purchase - shouting their wares - just like at a sports game in the US. It's kinda funny, but nice, too. No need to go to the snack bar!
- The movies are censored for extreme violence or sexual content. A violent scene from Angels and Demons was cut and lots of scenes from The Reader were cut. Sometimes when we are deciding whether or not to go see a movie, Jerry asks himself, "Do I just want to wait to watch it on DVD so I can see the entire movie?"
- Theaters make more money the more showings they have. But here, it is sometimes at the cost of the credits. We have been to several movies where the movie ends, the credits start to roll and then it fades to black so they can get started with the next showing earlier. Is that even legal? And so because there is very little time between film showings, you are not allowed to enter the theater until the film is supposed to start. And sometimes not even until after the start time.
- A popular movie snack is steamed corn. It comes in a small paper cup and you can add salt, butter or masala (Indian spices). It's quite tasty!
One Saturday morning we went the theater for the 10:45am showing of Horton Hears a Who. We got there at 10:30am to get tickets - plenty of time to get seats, snacks, etc since it was a Saturday morning - an unpopular movie-going time. We had double-checked the theater website to make sure the time was right, but when we got to the theater, we found out that the showing had been preponed to 10:15am. So, we were late instead of early! Yup, you read correctly - PREponed. It's a real word here. It's used when something is changed to an earlier time. Makes sense right? If things can be postponed, surely they can be preponed!
