For my first Indian cinema experience, I walked over to the SMS cinemas this evening to check out the latest Die Hard (the first movie in English that has come to either of the theatres in walking distance.) The ticket said 6:40pm, seat H-11, and 150 rupees. Only three bucks! And that was the higher-tiered price for central seating. But a seat number? Really? Was this one of those optional seat numbers? A barrier ribbon blocked the entrance to auditorium 4, so I waited. At 6:25, 6:30, 6:35, still blocked. I wondered if the previous movie was late or something.
This is old hat to people from NY or Chicago,
but I now live in a city with a gangster history
(complete with movies about it…
…though probably not movies with song and dance numbers)
Finally, right at 6:40, they opened the doors. And, indeed, people actually sat in the seat numbers. Unexpected… I wonder if it would otherwise be too chaotic? I would have preferred to choose my own seat. The theatre felt a bit old and run down, chairs and rug stained somewhat, but it had a pretty good angle and the chairs even reclined a bit.
So I waited. And waited. No pre-movie show, just the same clip of muzak looping over and over. I finally just asked the lady next to me when the movie would start. She said they were all asking the same question. There was a technical difficulty. Someone announced something in Hindi and the woman said that it probably would not start and that I could get a refund.
In the lobby, one woman was upset. Since she was speaking English, I understood about what. She was demanding that she get a refund for her popcorn and parking as well as for the movie and asking to speak to the worker’s superior. I watched for a bit, then just got my refund. I could have checked out Zila Ghaziabad or tried the other theatre farther away that had a late show, but I just decided to head back. Evening wasn’t a total waste. At least I got small change for my 500 bill ($10), something that you will reputably NOT be able get from an auto driver.