Empty theaters and malls

I recently saw two movies Well done Abba and Tum Milo to Sahi. I was attracted by to their lead roles, namely Boman Irani and Nana Patekar respectively. The actors were brilliant in their performances but the rest were pedestrian. Coupled with a poor story line the films failed to elicit any interest. The only thing which I remembered after the movie was that we stood up for the National Anthem. That was the only good thing which I came across the three hours which I spent at the multiplex.

One factor which surprised me and my wife beyond means was the empty multiplexes in which we watched the movies. There were no more than 25 people for the both the shows. Well Done Abba was watched on a Sunday Evening and Tum Milo to Sahi watched on Friday. ( First Day , last show). I was surprised as this was never the case even for the worst of movies which I had watched in Mumbai, New Delhi and Lucknow. We may safely blame the ongoing IPL matches which provide virtually free of cost entertainment. We may selectively overlook high priced tickets at the multiplexes and the poor story lines. Even the shopping malls wore a deserted look and all the empty shopping malls were in stark contrast to the malls which I saw in Lucknow and Mumbai.

Another thing which surprised and irritated me was the cost of eatables which were sold at the counters inside the theaters. I am not talking about the the exorbitant cost of samosa or pop corn which is sold, but I am talking about the items which are sold on MRP. The MRP is intself twice the MRP which is normally seen on products which are sold at any place outside theaters. Further, it is written in fine print, "FOR SALE THROUGH SELECT CHANNEL ONLY" This form of white collared loot was new to me. A Bottle of drinking water is priced at Rs. 30/- against the normal price of Rs. 15/- and so on for all the products. Basically all the products were priced in similar manner and it was very surprising. I am sincerely thinking of knocking the doors of cosnumer forums for such differential pricing of MRP at the multiplex.