If we can say that India found itself as a
nation in cinema I can say that in an Indian movie theater I reconnected myself
with cinema. It was cinema as a cathartic and sacred experience, like the one
everybody seeks when buying a ticket, a ticket to dream. Unfortunately the
Hollywood excesses have long lost their magic touch. I’m glad I was able to
dream again and rediscover the magic of cinema in a Bollywood movie.
My love for the Musical Genre is well known since it was the subject
of my Master Degree in Cinema. That is why I was excited, after almost seven
months in Singapore, to finally see an original Bollywood movie in a big
screen. That is something that I never had access before in Brazil, considering
that those productions don’t reach our internal market. It was my friend
Nagaraju who, after listen to my constant requests took me to see “Bhaag Milkha
Bhaag” (Run Milkha Run).
Everything regarding the experience was new, a discovery. The
theater was crowd, we were at the Screens
of Bombay Talkies and practically all the audience was Indian. I was
curious and that curiosity wake-up my senses and made me pay more attention to
my surroundings than usual. Instead of the traditional smell of popcorn and
butter there was an interesting mix of musky, tea and popcorn smells in the air.
The line was huge and chaotic, people were everywhere talking and
moving around. I could not really see where to go, so I just follow the flow to
the theater. When I entered the room I discovered an interesting acoustic
solution in the walls with a lilac fabric pinned and folded in a beautiful way.
Our seats were perfect, right in the middle/middle of the cinema. The audience
was energetic and there was vibrancy in the air.
Until the movie didn’t started I enjoyed seeing the shadows of the
people projected in the screen while they passed in front of the movie
projector. That added a magic atmosphere to the moment, especially when
children discovered their shadows in the big screen and started to jump and
move around playing with big images of themselves. Women wearing colorful saris
completed the atmosphere.
I had impression that when Indians gather in front of a big screen
something special happens and becomes easy to understand why cinema is such an
important industry in their country and even why Western movies don’t make much
success in their internal market. To go to the movies is a moment to dream and to
share the same dream. Without really knowing I was escaping from the reality to
live intense emotions for the next three hours. Sooner I would find myself in
that dark room sharing and cheering my hopes and dreams for India, along with
Milkha Singh and dozens of Indians.
The trailers started but the lights of the room were still on and
people continued to enter and talk, but I was assured that they would be quiet
as soon as the movie starts. Surprisingly I didn’t care. Everything looked so
new and amusing that I was already enjoying the experience. Maybe that is the
difference of being in a place where people honors cinema, of knowing that
everybody there wanted the same thing: to be entertained and achieve through
that entertainment a feeling of fulfillment. It was way different from the movie
theaters in Brazil that are usually full of bad behavior teenagers that make
noise just for the fun of disturb others.
The movie starts. It was inspired by the real life of Milkha Singh,
the Indian athlete, 400m runner known as “The Flying Sikh”. He’s life is a
story of persistence and overcome. I found myself cheering for him, screaming,
crying, laughing, singing and almost dancing (I must admit). My attention was
really kept during the entire time. It was a roller coaster of emotions and
that is why I am not going to analyze the movie here. You have to live the
experience and I hope you will also have that chance. What is important to
emphasize is that, more than anything, the movie was a story well told without
the excesses of Hollywood, without appealing to sex and preposterous special
effects. The experience itself was what affected me the most. It was almost
like going to the cinema for the first time. I was able to rediscover cinema
and remember why I love it so much.
Thank you Naga!
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