Noise, phones & popcorn: How dipping theatre etiquette is driving Kolkata’s cinephiles home

KOLKATA: Martin Scorsese’s recent remarks about abstaining from visiting cinemas have stirred conversation among film lovers in the city. It is not that Scorsese doesn’t love movies, but he can’t stand how people behave in theatres today.

The sentiment has prompted reflection among the city’s film enthusiasts regarding whether these disturbances are motivating a shift towards watching films at home.In a recent chat with film critic Peter Travers in his blog, ‘The Travers Take’, the 82-year-old filmmaker, known for ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976), ‘Goodfellas’ (1990), and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013), was quoted as saying: “Audiences babble on phones during the movie, leave to order snacks and vats of soda, and keep up a noise level loud enough to drown out the actors.” So Scorsese watches films at home, in his private screening room filled with movie posters, memorabilia, and a big screen. It was an important part of his life for years.Many film buffs in the city are also making a similar shift. Movies, film enthusiasts agree, are a collective experience, and nothing beats watching films on the big screen. They are not against fans roaring when stars make an entry on the big screen.People in Kolkata have grown up on stories of viewers throwing coins at the screen when ‘Sholay’ was screened at Jyoti cinema.

Nobody said it was bad etiquette. That was the magic of movies.

“I am not going to crib if people go crazy when Amitabh Bachchan makes his entry or SRK and Salman Khan thrash a villain. But, this is different. Out of nowhere, phone screens light up with people exchanging messages even when the screening is on. After intermission, eatables are still served with people trying to clear payments and counting changes loudly.

Then, there are those who spill the popcorn on the floor, leading to a collective gasp.

That is too distracting,” said Moumita Deb, who is a teacher by profession and a cine-buff by passion. Unless it is an out-and-out entertainer, Deb prefers to watch films in her cosy corner at home.

This, many feel, is an index of the dipping etiquette levels at the theatre. “When we were kids, whirring fans created distractions. Now, it's the audience.

Arriving late and trying to locate seats in the dark with mobile flashlights, munching eatables loudly, sudden chorus laughter without connection to what's on the screen, flashing mobiles checking or writing messages, and not to mention, the age-old custom of answering calls loudly.

Once I had two youngsters repeatedly voicing disgust at the bad making of the film, or a couple sitting beside me continuously predicting what would happen next!” said Director Atanu Ghosh.Many remember growing up watching movies in groups at traditional single screens. Sometimes the wooden seats creaked. That too was sound, but it was not irritating. “We didn’t have salesmen waiting for the intermission to start for them to sell everything from popcorn to pizzas. The ad breaks were minimal when we barely had time to buy a packet of potato chips. Now, the never-ending ad breaks make it unbearable,” Deb added.Ghosh also points out that it is not uncommon to find children running up and down the aisle or shouting while their guardians remain blissfully indifferent. “During key moments, even adults react insensitively. Let’s say a group bursts into a loud giggle as a deeply poignant scene unfolds. Such responses that are tone-deaf can feel brutally harsh,” Ghosh pointed out.Another big complaint is the constant commentary while watching a movie.

In an interesting way, this is a fallout of the OTT culture where people are used to watching a movie or series at home either alone or with a handful of friends and family. So, any verbal observation after watching a good scene or performance, even when the film is on, is not a huge offence at home.

“But it becomes problematic when this habit is carried to the theatres as well. These people perhaps have their own way of noise cancellation, which we don’t possess.

Another category is so used to watching movies without headphones while commuting in public transport, they fail to understand why a few comments inside the theatre can be a distraction for others,” said Director Debalina.She mentions that Kolkata is also witness to a huge degradation in the culture of movie-viewing at festivals. “During the film festival, a viewer was managing the queue of another venue while being seated to watch Mrinal Sen’s ‘Oka Oori Katha’.

When I protested that her directives were too loud, she rebuked me, asking why I was making so much of a fuss for watching a film like that,” Debalina said.Worse still are the levels some movie-goers stoop to in Kolkata, even when they watch serious films. Recording movie scenes during screenings has become a nuisance. In the middle of screenings of serious movies at film festivals, there have been complaints about cine-enthusiasts themselves brazenly recording scenes. “It is not about wanting to do piracy since no one will be able to record a full movie. Perhaps, it comes from a deep desire to be the first one to send out a review about how good or bad a film is or to share the clips on WhatsApp groups to prove that they are into intellectual cinema. Only a handful of viewers at serious movies in Kolkata are actually serious movie-goers,” Deb added.