Gem1050 Experiencing Bollywood

Taking the escalator up to Bombay Talkies, located right smack in between City Hall and Bugis Mrt on the 2nd floor of Shaw Towers, is like entering a totally different realm of cinematic experience, one which is very different from the atmospheres experienced in mainstream Cinema theatres such Shaw, Golden Village and Cathay etc. What is interesting is that going to watch a Bollywood movie is not something spontaneous, but rather something that is pre-determined eons ago, where the movie watching activity is possibly the highlight of the day, and where the movie dates are set weeks in advance, just to ensure that every family member would be able to block the date out and be able to go for the movie with their family.
As you walk in the cinema pass the glass doors, a strong Lassi smell pierces the air, accompanied quickly with the whiff of Indian snacks. This gives you a sensation as though you have teleported somewhere very culturally diverse, somewhere out of Singapore and possibly into a city in India. You’ll see friends and family congregating and chatting around the ticket counters, talking about anything from the latest family gossip to the current political and economical situation. Clad in their traditional attire from intricately made Sarees to colourful Punjabi costumes, it comes across as if they were told to look their best even though they are just going to be sitting down watching a movie for 3 hours in the complete darkness. Yet what’s interesting is that the males were not so much into the idea of dressing up and where they would be dressed in rather basic colour shirts, nothing very fancy or Indian related.
As you approached the core of Bombay Talkies, the various ticket spaces of Golden Village and Shaw just fade into darkness, the dim lighting, smooth interiors and display signs just jumps out at you all at once leaving you in awe. Colour, before anything else, engulfs the visual senses of the individuals, where you have numerous posters lined up on the walls of the narrow passageways. Famous Hindi actors in their frames appear to be pulling you into the Bollywood world, preparing you to be mesmerised while sitting at the edge of you seats for the next 3 hours or so. As the crowd walks in with you, you get soaked into their conversations, being able to understand the language helps as you hear bits and pieces of their dinner plans, the intense critique of certain movie actors and their overall jovial chatters, all this done while trying to keep a look out for their children who just cant seem to stay still and are to eager for the movie to start. Bombay Talkies is not only a family event, but a community event where long lost friends can catch up and reminiscence over the old days; Bombay Talkies provides a medium for them to escape from reality and just be whisked away to somewhere magical. As you walk into the cinema hall to try to find your seat under the dimly lit lighting, you can’t help notice the surroundings are not as glamorous as other cinema halls and where the beauty of the outer appearance seems to mask the sub par cinema theatres. The floor still has some popcorn leftover from previous movie screenings, and the chairs seem to be rather dusty and not as clean as you would have liked. As you have settled in waiting for the movie to start, you start to hear and smell the sweet, salty buttery popcorn packed neatly in transparent plastic boxes, being taken out and enjoyed by the masses. The crunching of the popcorn in their mouth is so clear it can be heard from the seats all around yours. Conversations among individuals seem even louder as people are not aware of their surroundings and continue to talk at the top of their voices. Conservations between husband and wife would go in the tune of the wife telling the husband to” Pease mute your phone, I don’t want it to ring while we are watching the movie”. The husband would proceed to obediently turn his phone on silence, with some husbands even showing their wife the proof that they have done as they were asked. This scene is a stark contrast to the stereotypical Tamil scenes where the husband takes charge. The audience of the film is usually determined by the content of the film being watched. The crowd on that Sunday was rather diverse and they could be there to watch any of the few movies currently being shown, which are namely Jazbaa, Rudhramadevi, Talvar and Pyar Ka Punchnama 2. However, what was interesting was that the people in the particular cinema hall seemed to be of a younger generation, full of life and youth on their side as they appreciated and fully enjoyed the movie, “Singh is Bling”. Singh is bling has a star-studded cast and was directed by on of Bollywood famous directors- Prabhu Deva, with main characters played by Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. The brief story line is where Akshay Kumar is forced to move to Goa for work, but falls in love with Amy, however language barriers makes it hard for them to communicate. As the story develops, they have Lara Dutta to serve as a translator as he tries to win her heart. Audiences was generally very fascinated with the movie through out the show and were continually laughing at the buffoonery, overrating and funny one lines of Akshay Kumar.
One would expect the audience reaction to be rather tamed, something similar to watching a Hollywood movie, however it was far from what you would expect as watching a movie in this type of space provides the platform for the audience to be rather interactive as though they are communicating with the actors and actresses via the screens. The biggest reaction from the audience of the night, was the entry of Amy Jackson when she came out of the sea in a bikini, this garnered a large applause and a few whistles as the audience were clearly very excited to see Amy of screen, after all she is said to be the hottest female lead currently in the Bollywood industry. Another scene, which the audience reacted very strongly, was the Akshay Kumar entry scene with the Lion, this caused the whole cinema to burst into laughter, as looking at him handle and control the lion on the rope was very entertaining but ridiculous at the same time. Especially the Akshay Kumar fans were in full support when they saw their favourite actor appear you would even see people standing up to applaud him loudly.
Throughout the movie, there was a constant awareness of others and there was hardly a moment of complete silence, thus making it rather difficult to engage in the movie itself. One incident was when someone’s alarm rang and that person had to frantically find her phone in her bag to turn it off, there was also at least at least two incidences where people not only answered their calls in the midst of the movie, but continued the conversation at the top of their voice. While, there were some people who were more sensitive to their surroundings, there were some who would continually munch their popcorn and slurp their drinks using their straws in a very distracting manner, which disturbed most of the audiences in the cinema. Then, came the much needed intermission, with Hindi movies stretching more than 2hours and 30 minutes, the intermission provided an opportunity for audience members to go to the toilet, or to even stock up on their snacks and drinks. During the intermission it gives you an opportunity to survey the crowd and look at the various audience demographic. What was rather interesting was that you are able to spot a few non-Indians in the cinemas, who were most probably tagging along with their Indians friends because of the good reviews of Singh is Bling or that they were possibly tasked to do an ethnography of watching a Bollywood movie. As the movie resumed, we would see people quickly walking back using their flashlights to find their seats and settling in with their respective groups. During the final sequences of Singh is Bling, it is noticed there was are an increase number of fight scenes, where it could be seen that the audience was more responsive and when punches were thrown and blood was shed. Audiences, especially the males seem to be so involved in the scene and some were seen mimicking the actors actions or even warning him about the attackers who were coming at him from his back. The movie ended with the hit song “Singh and Kaur” giving a happy ending to the much anticipated movie. When the lights came on it can be seen how some people were still nicely seated In their seats enjoying the song, however there was a group who would just want to leave the place immediately, signalling maybe a poor movie experience or that they are rushing of for their dinner plans. As everyone slowly makes their way out of the theatre back to the holding area, it was noticed that most of the chatter was totally irrelevant to the movie that they just watched. Instead, conversations were about what to watch next or when to watch were often heard.
The whole Bollywood going experience was very eventful as I was able to study and observe how people in Singapore watch and catch their favourite Bollywood actors on the big screens. I was also able to compare my experience to watching Hollywood movies in Singapore, as catching a Hollywood movie can be something rather spontaneous, or is carried out when one is intending to kill time with friends. However for the Indian community in Singapore, it can be seen as that cinema watching is very well planned out and due to the limited no of cinemas that screen Bollywood movies thus making the whole movie watching experience more treasured and appreciated and allowing them to maintain their cultural identity. Yes, there may be places such as temples, restaurants or even Little India, where Indians can feel at home and reconnect with friends and family, but after watching my first ever Bollywood movie on the big screens, it can be seen that cinemas should not be forgotten as it provides them with a platform to connect back to their roots and to be in touch with what is happening in India in a digital and modern way. Also, more often than not, movies tend to have a message that they are trying to send out or a hidden meaning, thus this allows the diaspora in Singapore to stay grounded and experience India via watching their favourite Bollywood movies, at the same time still keeping abreast with the latest and new developments happening on all front in their in their motherland.

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