Taking a break with a trip to the flicks

For someone having grown up watching Bollywood or regional language movies that are three or more hours long, with song and dance sequences alone taking up a big chunk of screen time, it's quite natural for me to expect an intermission.

A new experience awaited me at a cinema in a Beijing mall. Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible 7 Dead Reckoning Part I was running on one of the screens. The movie was 163 minutes long, quite lengthy for a Hollywood movie, and I kept waiting for the intermission, so I could answer the call of nature or grab a bite at the food counter.

Before leading me to my seat, the usher suggested that I buy some snacks — popcorn or cola, but I declined, saying I would have it during the break.

I, however, realized the consequences of my decision later. Because the break never happened. The only consolation being that I managed to tuck into some snacks at a fast-food joint at the mall before the movie started.

In hindsight, I realized I should've heeded the usher's advice.

Even as I waited eagerly for the break that never arrived, the lights came on. The thriller, which had the fans glued to the screen, had ended on a cliffhanger, leaving everyone in suspense. The end will be revealed in the sequel — which I will definitely return for when it is released.

Now, as for the intermission, in India, the audience loves it. Irrespective of the length of a film, an interval is always a given at the cinema there, and a trip to the movies isn't complete without one. The animated conversations during the interval are a clear indicator of whether or not a movie is worth watching. It's akin to an exit poll conducted just after people have cast their votes.

The food counters do brisk business, too, with some people even missing the initial portion of the second half of the film because they had to wait so long at the overcrowded counters to get their food, not to mention the equally long wait at the restrooms.

Trailers are another interesting element that I sorely missed. They're eagerly awaited by fans, who decide whether or not to watch a movie based on a trailer. For some aficionados, movie reviews don't matter. If the trailer is good enough, the movie gets onto their watch list.

Usually shown before the start of a movie, or the start of the second half, they are short clips of either Hollywood, Bollywood or regional language movies that will be released in the near future. It's a strategy employed by theater management to promote upcoming releases.

When the screening of Mission Impossible commenced on the dot, and the titles and the credits began to appear on the screen, I realized it was going to be a new movie-watching experience, as it didn't begin with the trailer, and it ended without a break. So, there was no question of expecting the trailer at the end.

Back home, during my college days, there were times when my friends and I would be waiting to exit the cinema hall because the movie was boring. So, post-interval, we would watch the trailers, make an about-turn, and then dash for the exit.

Another notable absence was the pre-movie commercials, which are common in most theaters back home. A big revenue earner, no movie ever starts without the screening of the commercials at both multiplexes, as well as single-screen theaters.