FilmIndia (1948)

„ February, 194$ It begins with the Pathan durwan who starts ■Ibowing and pushing the crowds about to the point >/ disgust and rnnoyance. When the crowds queue rp for tickets for hours in rain and sun, they rre sudlenly told that all the tickets are cold out. The low;r class tickets are soon on the road in the hands of he theatre man's stooges for black marketing. The "Houre Full" board is soon put up with half if the theatre not sold and huge crowds outside clainouring for tickets. The starting bell is now rung to nake the crowds impatient and the advertisement lides are put on to create darkness for the dark leeds that follow. Now the door keepers, who usually work with he full consent and collaboration of the theatre Inanagcr, start collecting Rs 2| per head in cash Lnd admit people into the auditorium without giving ihem a legal admisfion ticket. This procedure robs |he Government of the Entertainment Tax, the producers of their share of takings and provides a handpme day-to-day bonus to the theatre manager and .porkers and their black-marketing stooges. The theatre owner doesn't object because he is it the time digesting his own black market bonus while his expenses are guaranteed by the producer. Resides he would like the picture to go out much [•arier than the stipu'ated six weeks so that he can queeze the next producer a bit earlier. As this illegitimate business roars well in the arly crowded weeks of a new picture, a'l the theatre lands are anxious to have as many new pictures as >os-ible and as fast as they can come. There is hus a harmony of purpose between the theatre ownr and his theatre minions. It is, therefore, not surpri ing to hear the man vho se'ls the tickets telling you that all tickets are old when he has on hand half of the theatre empty. The doorkeepers, besides collecting the head tax •f Rs. 2| per person, condemn the picture as rotten -nd not worth the trouble. The operator has more tricks up his sleeve than he average filmgoer can imagine. He has a lens on lis projector with which he can at regular intervals nake the picture look blurred and out of focus hereby straining the eyesight of the filmgoer. Then ie has the sound volume control, jmt as we have me on the household radio, with which the best re■orded song can be turned at will into an inaudib'e vhis-per or an ear-splitting screech. He does both iccording to his mood of the moment. Then again ie can permit the print of the picture to run over a ;procket and acquire dents all over the copy. If i producer becomes extra watchful or sensitive, the iperator takes a thin cloth with tiny stone particles ind with a'l obvious intention of cleaning the copy, >roduccs several running scratches on the picture. If in spite of all this, a picture runs well, the :eiling fans go out of order, the chairs produce bugs, FILMIND I A the exit doors get jammed and the manager becomes deaf and insolent. Add to ail this the sympathetic solicitude of rival producers who send goondas during early days to boo and throw even stones on the screen so that filmgoers may be too scared to see the picture. One producer rpecializes in sending a dozen strong 'ghati' women carrying their little babies — perhaps hired ones — who are pinched to cry loudly at the time when a popular song is sung. A dozen crying brats can ruin any show. A very well known producer has a gang of monkey boys who climb up the poles during dark hours and tear the street screens of rival producers. After a'l this crime in showmanship if a picture runs twenty-five weeks at a theatre, then the theatre is either leased by the producer, as Shantaraua did during the run of "Shakunta'a", or the picture is purchased by the theatre owner as in the case of "Sindoor" at the Roxy. There is no third possibility. Itajen Haksar, a new-comer, teams with Paro in "Do Bhai", a picture of Filmttan. '7l.