Movie experience in hindsight

Posted on 03. May, 2008 by Sarthak in Entertainment

Bollywood as the Indian film industry or rather the Mumbai based film industry is commonly known in media has changed over the years. From the time the first talkie movie “alam ara” came out in 1932 to the most recently released “Tashan”, it seems like a different world altogether.

tashan

What has also changed is the way we watch movies or the kind of medium we use to watch movies. As a 24 year old, I remember watching movies from early to mid 90’s on ZEE CINEMA. Cable TV had still not penetrated the small towns of India. I used to wait for summer vacations to catch my favorite movies. Doordarshan provided the entertainment quota for Friday nights and Sunday evenings with the its movie offerings.

Later on, Cable TV penetrated into the small towns, the number of movie channels increased and there was a lot of more variety (only in terms of number of movies to be watched, not in terms of content). I think I have watched most of 50’s, 60’s, 70’s “hits” on all these channels over the years.

As I started my graduation in engineering, English movies became my new-found flavour. I did not have a clue about Martin Scorcese, Tarantino and the rest of the Brat Pack. This was the time I got exposed to the very best of Hollywood cinema, and understood the reason, why Hollywood rules the worldwide movie scene.

n a few years I began my foray into the Bangalore suchitra film society, where I realized that there is cinema beyond Bollywood and Hollywood. I watched a lot of European stuff in suchitra auditorium. I have attended various national and international film festivals in Bangalore and it’s really great to interact with fellow movies buffs. I can say that I am totally hooked to this unique style of filmmaking. Its been a long journey from “Amar Akbar Anthony” to “Four Women” and I hope to continue upwards on this path.