[First published December 21st, 2010, a full year before the alleged end of the world, Armageddon]
One Sunday evening, my other half had a sudden urge to watch a Tamil movie. (God knows why!). After browsing the papers, we zeroed on a Tamil movie which sounded interesting. Interesting because it starred Suriya (the current top Tamil actor), Vivek Oberoi (the ever smiling John Denver-hairstyled Hindi actor who was Aishwarya Rai's one time beau) and believe it or not Shatrughan Sinha (the Bihari Hindi actor of the 70s who had carved a career in politics - what was he doing in a Tamil movie anyway?)
In a flash, we got ready, and before long we were at the ticket counter of one of the oldest theatres in Kuala Lumpur (Coliseum) buying ticket. Coliseum was about to be demolished last year before timely interventions by the Heritage societies and the ministry. They struck a deal with the owners, whereby, it will be preserved together with the colonial type restaurant and hotel as a national heritage. In fact, the cinema gives away free tickets once a month on the 4th Friday afternoon of the month to view locally produced films. The restaurant, on the other hand, still serves good old British favourites like 'Shepard's pie' in an ambience set in the pre-colonial interior decorations and even the waiters were probably born before Merdeka.
The ticket counter guy (a foreigner) was telling that the show that we were about to watch was the last screening, and he highly recommended the movie - Ratha Charitharam.
As an afterthought, after seeing the poster of the movie upon paying for the tickets, we thought we had made a bad choice as the poster boasted of violence and revenge, which was definitely not our cup of tea! And wifey said, "Should have bought the tickets for the other movie screened there -'Chikku Bukku'. What the heck, we were there just to pass the time. We can always sleep through the film if it was found to be boring!
So we went in, armed with kuaci (dried melon seeds) and pistachios. After a few trailers, (the trailers were only two Rajnikanth music videos, not a single ad! Business must be bad, the target audience was not the affluent willing-to-part-with-money type!, .they started screening the opening credits of the movie 'Chikku Bukku'. I thought it was the promotion of their next screening, but hey! - the trailer went on and on... They have decided to screen the other movie! My wife's prayer got answered? The usher at theatre could not put forward a sensible reply. And nobody else in the thin crowd of the audience seems to mind, so we just watched.
This is the second time such an incident had happened to me. The first one was in 1988 in Kota Bharu (KB), a small town in the north-eastern state of Peninsular Malaysia of Kelantan. Watching a movie in KB was an experience entirely different to what we are used to. For a start, in the 80s, hit English language movies rarely hit the shores of Kelantan. If ever any English language movies were to creep through, it would usually be a B-grade one and would last no more than a day. So, if we were to catch it in the screening times in the papers, we better watch it on the same day for tomorrow may be too late! So, when TFLG (my weird friend who has no other friends except me) and I saw the newspaper announcement of 'The Untouchables' starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert DeNiro being screened in KB, we were excited! It was a Friday, around noon when we saw it. Friday, in Kelantan, was the weekend as Thursday is a half-working day and Friday is off-day. After burning the candles at both ends for the term examinations, we decided to reward ourselves by feasting on Arumugam's banana leaf rice with his mouth drooling (even as I type) varuval chicken, followed by a movie later on.
Arumugam's Malindo Indian Curry House in Jalan Pengkalan Chepa was one of the few Indian restaurants in KB. In my opinion, he served the best South Indian food cooked complete with all the necessary spices without taking any shortcuts. Another reason I go there is for his warm hospitality and to support an honest man in his bit to feed his young family. As university students, of course, we got special treatment!
In KB, during the time of Friday prayers (salat Jumaat), all businesses come to a standstill (except non-Moslem ones). Hence, after lunch, we had to wait till 3pm before the screenings commenced.
Now, a few formalities and ground rules have to know before you start watching. For your information, they had sanctioned one half of the hall for men and the other for ladies. You are required to rise and stand at attention at the beginning of the movie when the state anthem is played, and the Sultan of Kelantan's portrait will be screened simultaneously. The hall lights will not be wholly switched off. Dim lights will accompany the audience by the side of the hall throughout the show. And do not be surprised if someone rudely flashes a torchlight at the middle of the show to ask for identifications or wedding certificate, especially if you are sitting with a female companion. It could be the moral police or PM (not Prime Minister but pencegah maksiat!))
So, after seeing the poster, we bought our tickets and went in. Just like what happened 22 years later, the supposed trailer never ended, and we ended up watching an Italian R-rated, butchered by censors, B-grade (maybe C) movie made in the spoof of the Hollywood blockbuster 'Blue Lagoon' called 'Blue Island'. And when we came out, that earlier poster had been changed to 'Blue Island'!
Goodbye, 2010! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Going to hang my running boots, rest my fingers, get away from it all and re-emerge next year from Down Under!
One Sunday evening, my other half had a sudden urge to watch a Tamil movie. (God knows why!). After browsing the papers, we zeroed on a Tamil movie which sounded interesting. Interesting because it starred Suriya (the current top Tamil actor), Vivek Oberoi (the ever smiling John Denver-hairstyled Hindi actor who was Aishwarya Rai's one time beau) and believe it or not Shatrughan Sinha (the Bihari Hindi actor of the 70s who had carved a career in politics - what was he doing in a Tamil movie anyway?)
In a flash, we got ready, and before long we were at the ticket counter of one of the oldest theatres in Kuala Lumpur (Coliseum) buying ticket. Coliseum was about to be demolished last year before timely interventions by the Heritage societies and the ministry. They struck a deal with the owners, whereby, it will be preserved together with the colonial type restaurant and hotel as a national heritage. In fact, the cinema gives away free tickets once a month on the 4th Friday afternoon of the month to view locally produced films. The restaurant, on the other hand, still serves good old British favourites like 'Shepard's pie' in an ambience set in the pre-colonial interior decorations and even the waiters were probably born before Merdeka.
The ticket counter guy (a foreigner) was telling that the show that we were about to watch was the last screening, and he highly recommended the movie - Ratha Charitharam.
As an afterthought, after seeing the poster of the movie upon paying for the tickets, we thought we had made a bad choice as the poster boasted of violence and revenge, which was definitely not our cup of tea! And wifey said, "Should have bought the tickets for the other movie screened there -'Chikku Bukku'. What the heck, we were there just to pass the time. We can always sleep through the film if it was found to be boring!
So we went in, armed with kuaci (dried melon seeds) and pistachios. After a few trailers, (the trailers were only two Rajnikanth music videos, not a single ad! Business must be bad, the target audience was not the affluent willing-to-part-with-money type!, .they started screening the opening credits of the movie 'Chikku Bukku'. I thought it was the promotion of their next screening, but hey! - the trailer went on and on... They have decided to screen the other movie! My wife's prayer got answered? The usher at theatre could not put forward a sensible reply. And nobody else in the thin crowd of the audience seems to mind, so we just watched.
This is the second time such an incident had happened to me. The first one was in 1988 in Kota Bharu (KB), a small town in the north-eastern state of Peninsular Malaysia of Kelantan. Watching a movie in KB was an experience entirely different to what we are used to. For a start, in the 80s, hit English language movies rarely hit the shores of Kelantan. If ever any English language movies were to creep through, it would usually be a B-grade one and would last no more than a day. So, if we were to catch it in the screening times in the papers, we better watch it on the same day for tomorrow may be too late! So, when TFLG (my weird friend who has no other friends except me) and I saw the newspaper announcement of 'The Untouchables' starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert DeNiro being screened in KB, we were excited! It was a Friday, around noon when we saw it. Friday, in Kelantan, was the weekend as Thursday is a half-working day and Friday is off-day. After burning the candles at both ends for the term examinations, we decided to reward ourselves by feasting on Arumugam's banana leaf rice with his mouth drooling (even as I type) varuval chicken, followed by a movie later on.Arumugam's Malindo Indian Curry House in Jalan Pengkalan Chepa was one of the few Indian restaurants in KB. In my opinion, he served the best South Indian food cooked complete with all the necessary spices without taking any shortcuts. Another reason I go there is for his warm hospitality and to support an honest man in his bit to feed his young family. As university students, of course, we got special treatment!
In KB, during the time of Friday prayers (salat Jumaat), all businesses come to a standstill (except non-Moslem ones). Hence, after lunch, we had to wait till 3pm before the screenings commenced.
Now, a few formalities and ground rules have to know before you start watching. For your information, they had sanctioned one half of the hall for men and the other for ladies. You are required to rise and stand at attention at the beginning of the movie when the state anthem is played, and the Sultan of Kelantan's portrait will be screened simultaneously. The hall lights will not be wholly switched off. Dim lights will accompany the audience by the side of the hall throughout the show. And do not be surprised if someone rudely flashes a torchlight at the middle of the show to ask for identifications or wedding certificate, especially if you are sitting with a female companion. It could be the moral police or PM (not Prime Minister but pencegah maksiat!))
So, after seeing the poster, we bought our tickets and went in. Just like what happened 22 years later, the supposed trailer never ended, and we ended up watching an Italian R-rated, butchered by censors, B-grade (maybe C) movie made in the spoof of the Hollywood blockbuster 'Blue Lagoon' called 'Blue Island'. And when we came out, that earlier poster had been changed to 'Blue Island'!
Goodbye, 2010! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Going to hang my running boots, rest my fingers, get away from it all and re-emerge next year from Down Under!
HAPPY HOLIDAY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.
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