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FILM1ND1A
February i942
Shobhana Samarth has a swell room to herself as Milap", a Prakash picture.
'Seeta'
"Bharat
show and not the childish pranks of your proud progeny.
Some people have the peculiar habit of talking private or business affairs while the show is going on. It is difficult to understand how they manage two things at a time. May be, they have a special knack to kill two birds with one stone. However, it cannot be denied that their chatterings and mutterings are nothing less than a source of great annoyance to their neighbours. The following example will suffice to expose the absurdity of their unmannerly behaviour.
THE BLOODY BETEL
During my short stay in Calcutta, I paid a visit to an Indian cinema hall. As soon as the show started, a small group of Marwaris began to talk about their jute business. They kept on talking in the back seats and there seemed no end to their conversation. The man sitting next to me got angry and scolded them severely for interfering with his enjoyment of the picture. This had a salutary effect. They became quiet and as they could not talk, they began to see the picture. During the course of the picture, a comic situation tickled their feelings of appreciation and one of them could not control his laughter. As he burst
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into a laughter, the betel leaf in his mouth shot out with a terrific force and lay stuck on the neck of the person who had scolded him a few minutes before. In a moment, it was the interval and the lights were on.
The red juice of the betel was seen dripping down the neck of the poor victim.
The poor man, catching hold of the Marwari, said, "See! what you
have done." The Marwari blushingly apologised and while he expressed his regret, he put a fresh betel leaf into his mouth. Could bad manners go any further?
COOING OF LOVE DOVES
I must make a passing reference, though with restrained feelings, to those young couples who consider cinema halls as the safest wooing spots. I came across such people several times but the memory of one observation is still fresh in my mind and I am tempted to record it here.
The scene of this romantic episode was laid in one of the Bombay theatres. I was seated in one corner of the last but one row. Next to mo was an elderly person and behind us a young couple, in the full bloom of youth, thoroughly happy In each other's company. As soon as the lights went off, they began to let out their love secrets in whispers. Though the subject of their talk was quite interesting, I felt their interference in my enjoyment of the picture. But an elderly person by my side was perfectly calm and tolerant. He did not seem to be disturbed in the least.
Just in the middle of the show when the screen drama was at its climax, we heard quite an audible
Khurshid and Vasantee star together in "Beti", a Ranjit picture, in which Arun also gets his first big chance.