Ways of Seeing
🗓 posted Feb 12, 2025 by Josh Erb🔢 509 words
🏷 #brief #travel #india
I went to the movie theater in India for the first time last month. I've been living right next door to Bollywood for 6 months, I apologize that it took me this long. Going to the movies is such a communal thing, but for some reason I hadn't realized just how many cultural differences there would be.
The structure of the theater experience is roughly the same as in the U.S. right now. You order your tickets online through an app before the scheduled screening. When you arrive you show your phone to an employee stationed at the entrance and he waves you through. There is a concession stand for snacks (soda, popcorn, &c.) if you'd like some. Once you are in the theater and at your seat, however, the experiences begin to rapidly diverge.
FIRST, before the film or previews, the Indian national anthem plays. A recorded voice asks you to stand (in English, but this may depend on the theater). A video of the Indian flag waving in the wind is projected onto the screen as it plays.
SECOND, whereas in the U.S. we have standard title cards from the Motion Picture Association about the contents of previews and films we are about to see. In India these are scanned government documents with the signature of the employee who approved them.
THIRD, once the movie is under way, if at any point there is alcohol or tobacco use on screen, a disclaimer that it is "injurious to health" will appear in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. At times, you may not have initially noticed that there is a pipe or cigarette on screen, but these handy alerts will help you find it. Even if it's only being held by a background actor.
FINALLY, every screening, no matter how long the movie in question, has a 15-20 minutes intermission. I think this is a necessity for Bollywood films, which have a typical runtime of 3 hours. However, it's quite an odd thing to experience when you're going to see a 90-minute film.
There's also much more stringent regulation around what can/cannot be shown on screen. Every film must be approved by a government body that modifies the films however it sees fit. So if you see Nosferatu, for example, then you'll see a different version of Count Orlok's genitals. I'm not sure how much this affects the viewing experience, since you only know what's changed or missing if you're able to track down the official certificate, but it feels like it's worth a mention.
I think the American mindset often assumes that we invented the cinema and exported it out to the rest of the world. So the experience must be the same anywhere you go. The truth is that the ritual of going to the theater has been alive and well in Bombay since 1913. It has it's own history and expectations.
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