How to Watch a Movie with Five People

Date: 19th July 2010

Venue: City Centre 2, Kolkata

The movie bug bites me and I decide to go and watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. My flatmate who also wanted to come to the movie has slept off. I doggedly go to the mall next door. I approach the ticket counter and I get to know that the show is not there as the hall needs at least 5 people for a movie to be screened (shocked, at the lack of footfalls).

I go down, buy an Amul sundae and come up again to try my luck. The seller says the same. Now I find a mother and son (Germans) who also want to watch the movie. They have seen the movie but want to watch it again (surprised internally). We wait for more people to come in. Another guy approaches, wants to watch Lamha (curse him) and is waiting for his friend. The mother is all charm and we convince him to watch our movie instead (bless us and him). Now we have four people. I suggest splitting the fifth ticket, the son is fine, the mother dithers (I thought expats were paid well!). We wait and wait. A couple comes, they want to watch some other movie (curse them). They are not willing to convert to our movie. Some random guy comes, the mother is all charm. He has someone else with him who has an exam the next day and hence cannot watch the movie. Someone from the theatre comes, sees our earnestness and asks us to buy the tickets (bless him). The random stranger buys a ticket so that we (mostly the foreigner) can see the movie (bless him anyway). Mother and son are shocked at his sweetness and comment on it. Said good guy buys ticket and leaves. We go watch the movie. Five people enter. 

Interval time. The mother turns back and tells the projectionist to continue as no one was going anywhere. By the time we leave there are a few more in the hall leaving out the staff (surprised). The mother is no longer interested in any conversation and runs away. Overall, an interesting experience.