Cheers: When Cinema Stops Being a Celebration
Random thought I can't shake: I went to see Wicked recently and the whole time I kept thinking about watching movies back home in India. The difference hit me hard.
I saw Wicked: For Good at a theater here in the US recently, and something felt off. People cheered a bit at the end, but other than that it was quiet. Everyone sat there, watched the movie, and left.
Compare that to when I saw Mission Kashmir on opening day 20 years ago. The theater was packed - I mean really packed. I literally watched it over someone's shoulder because there was no space left. And when Hrithik Roshan came on screen for the first time? The whole place went crazy. People were whistling, shouting, clapping. (You can still see this happen in a viral clip from his movie, War, many years later.)
Hrikik Roshan first scene in "War", released in 2019. Theater unknown.
That wasn't just watching a movie. It was an event. Everyone was excited together, celebrating together.
Wicked: For Good felt like the opposite - quiet, individual, almost like we were all just consuming content alone but in the same room.
The weird thing is, this difference isn't really about the 20 years between these movies. It's about something deeper - how much movies cost now, and how we think about going to the cinema.
Movies Got Expensive
Back in 2000, going to the movies in India meant single-screen theaters. Almost everyone could afford to go - it didn't matter if you were rich or poor. It was just something people did. I remember going to the cinema with friends almost every other month.
Then multiplexes showed up, usually inside malls, and everything changed. Ticket prices went up. Now movies aren't for everyone anymore - they're expensive. If you can't afford the ticket, you're just locked out. Ticket prices in India went from 91 rupees in 2015 to 134 rupees in 2024, according to Ormax Media. That's a 50% jump in less than 10 years!
Intermission
Here's something Americans might not get: Indian movies are long. Mission Kashmir was almost 3 hours long. Wicked: For Good was only about 2 hours. But it's not just about length - it's about the intermission.
In India, intermission is huge. It's built into the experience, especially the food. American theaters have popcorn and candy - stuff you can eat quietly during the movie. But in Indian theaters during intermission, you'd get a mini-meal. Samosas, sandwiches, savory stuff. And you could smell it everywhere. That smell was part of the cinema-going experience.
Intermission gave everyone a break to talk about the first half of the movie, grab some food, and stretch. It turned watching a movie into a longer event. Not just entertainment, but an outing with friends or family.
One Movie vs. Many Movies
Single-screen theaters only showed one movie at a time, and it would play for weeks. So all the hype, all the excitement, was focused on that one film. Everyone was there for the same reason.
Multiplexes show like 10 movies at once. Everyone's scattered, watching different things. The energy is just diluted.
Going to see the movie everyone was talking about felt special - almost like going to a big cultural event. The best example is Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ). That movie has been playing at one theater in Mumbai - Maratha Mandir - for over 30 years. The only time it stopped was during COVID. People still go watch it and pay for tickets. It's like a tradition, a piece of culture that keeps going.
There's nothing like that in the US. No movie that just stays in theaters forever because it means that much to people.
Some movies have sparked that energy here - like when RRR came out and people went crazy for the Naatu Naatu scene. But that's rare. It's not the normal experience.
RRR at The Chinese Theatre in 2023 in Los Angeles, California
What Changed
I think it comes down to this: in India, those single-screen theaters were like a town square. Movies were something we all shared together - the anticipation, the cheering, the intermission food, everything. It was loud, chaotic and communal. It was the masala on top of the movie.
American multiplexes are different. They're clean, quiet, controlled. You watch your movie, everyone else watches theirs. It feels more individual, more isolated.
Sure, multiplexes brought better screens and sound to India too. But I still remember that packed theater, everyone cheering together, the smell of Samosas and Pakodas in the air. We weren't just watching a movie. We were celebrating it, together.
And I miss that.