Weekend Movies

One activity had been my weekend ritual during my bachelor days post B School - watching the latest release along with my roomies , Hitesh and Santosh. So long as one of those esteemed and exalted reviewers from times had not dumped them, we spent a considerable part of (our then) salaries on our weekend movies.

Initially I was not part of their weekend movie plans as our place was in one (then) god forsaken corner of Chembur and they were 2 people on a bike. Things changed when we shifted to Andheri. Andheri had new multiplexes in Fun Cinemas and Fame Adlabs and was just a few mins by rick. Within a few months I morphed from watching 3 - 4 movies in a year to 2 - 3 movies on a good weekend. My parents and my siblings back home noticed this change in me and may have attributed this to some of the side effects of living in the tinsel town of mumbai.

While Hitesh had a complex assessment system (which I still do not understand), Santosh was almost always influenced by the reviews in mid-day (which he religiously bought every evening) for the movies to watch. - was always indifferent and followed them both unless I had a cricket match or the movie had one of those 'stars' I did not quite appreciate (all about this in a separate blog). Long before the release of a film I could feel Santosh's perception of the film based on the stray comments he made during dinner (he always had some strong perceptions based on the trailers or reviews in his evening newspaper).

We did see some big hits on day 1 as also some boring ones in the first week (they never lasted more than that in the multiplexes). I remember expressing my not so silent boredom of the film by bubbling an almost empty cola bottle in a sparsely filled theatre.

Special mention for those caramel popcorns and the samosas we gulped along with gallons of aerated drinks during those enjoyable and not so enjoyable movies.

Wahtever said, I enjoyed this to good effect till I shifted job to be an investment banker. Weekends then meant some breathing space and catching up with a siesta. Gradually, I was left out of some of what earlier was my weekend ritual.

Last Saturday, Santosh and Hitesh have called and asked if I would join them for a movie with family. I was hesitant assuming that my son may not last a whole movie without me having to take him out mid way. He not only was quiet but seemed to enjoy the film. I guess it is back to old ways for me. This time however, will be joined by my little family. Hitesh and Santosh do count me in next time on.

My first Blog

I have always felt nice reading the blog my friend Santosh Asbe writes. Though i have known him for about 8 years now (as close as being his roomie for about 4 years) , i could never unravel the depth of his feelings until he started his blog. Whoever felt that there can be nothing better than personal interaction.
I have now taken the plunge and would post my feeling and views on things around me and things integral to me.