In Regal Style
De Paul’s cold coffee at Janpath. Walked around Connaught Circus on a warm winter night. And finished with an impulsive movie at Regal cinema with Prasun, a friend. Late night show.
The guy behind the counter of the very very old classic cinema hall was not in uniform like the PVR guys. He was not business-like. He did not have to ask us if we preferred ‘Gold’ seats. He was an uncle who sweetly told us that they weren’t sure if they would screen the movie “Luck by Chance” at all, since only Prasun and I had bought the tickets. (The film is supposed to be doing well over India.)
So, we killed time until 9:30 pm. Amir Khan told me my weight at a super-cool weighing machine - the kind which has lights in all colors and you have to wait for a red and white spiralling disc to stop. Then you insert a 1 rupee coin.
The lobby of Regal had sweeping staircases, a nautical vintage wall-clock, posters pinned with thumb-pins on soft-boards and sepia-toned photos of Madhubala and Raj Kapoor. Apart from Balcony seats, there is the entry to the ‘Box’.
The hall itself was lined with big electric fans. The seat numbers had been imperfectly painted in large digits behind the seats. And as the movie started and I could put up my feet on the seats in front and somebody clapped from the back row, the lights dimmed. The beginning of the movie was the best part – a tribute of sorts to the film industry; to the stuntmen, the dancers, the sound-recording assistant, the make-up man; the many people who go to Bombay with stardust in their eyes.