NDTV Lumiere in association with PVR Cinemas, screen acclaimed world movies in the metros. The target audience is the newly aware and indulgent viewers who have been exposed to world cinema and are not limited to the idea of cinema to just what Bollywood can offer them. The viewership for these movies are usually students, media personnel, seasoned movie goers, foreign nationals from the countries were these movies are originally made. The numbers are usually sparse and the ones who drop in are not bothered about others and the only thing which draws them is the passion for cinema.
I was quite surprised to see an almost full auditorium with people from various age groups and an assortment of all sorts. I got the third row from the screen and still people were pouring in; old couples, older men, young couples, non-English speaking type common man. I really could not fathom how a movie like ‘Boarding Pass’ could draw a crowd of this sort, the one you can still attribute to movies like ‘Titanic’. It was only after 20 minutes down the line I figured out what was the drawing crowd. This is my reading of course. It was the ‘sleaze factor’; Asia was drawing audience from all over. The theme, the background, the production house, the critical acclaim – all of it did not matter. It was just about nudity on screen.
Suddenly I felt repulsive to be amongst people who came for self gratification w/o any respect for cinema as an art and a medium beyond boundaries. I no longer felt that the purpose for which we were watching the movie were diagonally opposite. I felt like walking out, to show my dissent, but that was not rightful. It would be insult to the cinema as well. To each one, their view.
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