My Finest Entertainment Experience... Not quite

Today me and my friends decided to go watch the latest sequel to the Indiana Jones trilogy. The venue was the Satyam Cineplex, and we were looking forward to a enthralling experience with excellent visual and sound effects aided by the new RDX technology employed by one of the most famous multiplexes in South India. We were a big group of 12 guys who had assembled at the venue well ahead of time and had purchased the tickets worth 90 bucks a head. We were very eager to take our seats in the Satyam hall in the cineplex - capable of hosting 1200 members for a show it is one of the biggest screens in Asia.

The previous day we had doubts if we would get tickets for the movie since it had shattered all Box-office records world over and carried excellent reviews. As we entered the hall we were greeted by the last few frames of the Trailer of 'Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na'. I was a little disappointed to have just missed it since I wanted to listen to the music-composed by AR Rahman, the maestro- that the trailer would carry. I also was surprised by how empty the hall was. We were seated in row M and all the remaining rows in front of us were all completely empty, but for the Rs 20 tickets right up front.

We took our seats and waited for the long series of advertisements that would usually follow. But this time it took a little longer for the screen to change from its blank state. We decided to make use of the short delay to get some drinks and popcorn from the atrociously high-priced food outlets of the cineplex. We waited for ten more minutes and were still faced with a nice blank screen and complete silence in the cinema hall. We then decided that our great icon from college, his highness, the Great MANUJ should be remembered and honoured in the cinema hall. This idea arose he was present in the same hall seated in the balcony area with a ticket worth 120 bucks. So, I just called him up and asked him to peep from the balcony area to right under the balcony where we were all seated as one big group in a single row. The moment all the people around me noticed him they all went up in unison - "MMMANUUUUUUUJJ!!!!". The guy was totally embarassed and went right back to his seat. Only moments later did we notice that the whole crowd in the hall was looking in our direction. We had realised how famous we had made Manuj!

A few minutes passed and we came back to our normal state and only then did we realise that 20 minutes had passed and the gigantic screen was still blank and nothing had appeared since the 'Jaane Tu...." trailer. All of us in the hall were now getting frustrated and restless. The people in the rows right next to the entry doors were being offered free popcorn to make up for the delay. Time just kept passing. We were enjoying our popcorn, no doubt about that, but more importantly we wanted to see the movie. It was almost an hour past the scheduled starting time of 1:15 pm when the theatre employees finally informed us that the screening was cancelled and that we could collect our refund from the ticket counters! Everyone was thoroughly pissed and stressed out after wasting so much time in the hall without having even witnessed a single frame of the movie.

Finally, we all decided to proceed to I-NOX to watch the same movie at 4:15 pm. All went well at the I-NOX multiplex and the movie experience was thoroughly satisfying as far as the quality of the hall and media systems were concerned. But there was one thing that still irked me , and that was the prices of the food items available. It was even higher than what rates were quoted at the Satyam cineplex. While a 650ml cup of Coke costs 45 bucks at Satyam, a 400ml cup of the same costs 50 bucks at I-NOX!! We did not feel too hungry thanks to all the free popcorn we were showered with, especially because it lasted till the gates to Citicentre. :)

I think the owners of Satyam cineplex are really lucky not to own the same facility in a country like USA, because then such a technical lapse would have resulted in a severe consequence. The moviegoers would have happily sued the owners for mental torture and walked away with thousands of dollars. But they are in such a nice country like India, where Free popcorn and ticket refunds are enough to keep the people quiet. This is not the first such occurence. One of my friends who went through the same experience today with me had gone through a surprisingly long 75 minute intermission while watching the new Narnia movie.

Thanks to all this I will, for the first time in my entire life, think twice before booking tickets at the (in)famous Satyam cineplex. Not quite my Finest Entertainment Experience(Something the cineplex boasts to offer to its customers).

About the movie, I think its been really well made to suit the aged Harrison Ford who has given an inspired and breathtaking performance. I would recommend this movie to all moviegoers since it was a thorough entertainer which made me laugh on more than one occasion with its witty dialogue and kept me interested in all the action sequences which had us guessing as to how the great Professor Henry Jones would get out of each situation.

Verdict for the day: Watch Indianajones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at I-NOX preferably. :)