[Reader-list] 1st posting,, mamta

[mamta mantri]

Hello all,
This is Mamta; I am based in Mumbai, and am Sarai
fellow for the first time, but have been following the
enlightening reader-list for quite some time now.

Academically, I have done an M.Phil in English
Literature and M.A. in History,, want to pursue PhD
and add a Dr. to my name (ho, ho, I am only 29). On a
serious note, I come from an average Marwari
Maheshwari family and my roots are in Rajasthan, (very
close to Makrana, the ‘marble’ place), I do go there
to unwind. I have worked as a lecturer in various
colleges in Mumbai, but don’t want to work according
to the system, so chose not to do my NET and SET
(Entrance exams mandatory for permanent job as
lecturer), so am without a steady source of income.
But have been lucky otherwise,, tried my hands at
teaching (both in traditional and professional
courses), Manuscripts cataloguing for Ministry of
Culture (BJP government then), translated a book for
Swaminarayan, Akshardham (remember the terrorist
attack), translated interviews and some basic aspects
of editing for a documentary film (in the process).
This does not look ‘focused’ in the corporate sense,
but I have enjoyed myself this way. I believe in
living life to the fullest, experiencing all emotions
to their due. That apart, the only wealth that I wish
to focus on is gaining knowledge.       
 Well, that’s about me for the moment...
About the project, I will be working on the movie
theatres at Grant Road, a (in) famous part of Mumbai.
A group of eight cinema theatres (ALFRED, NEW ROYAL,
NEW ROSHAN, SUPER, NEKZAAD, NISHAAT, GULSHAN,
SHALIMAR) in the radius of about a kilometer, have
been entertaining the local masses for more than 50
years.

I have been walking through these theatres for the
past two years, as a part of my teaching activity in a
college nearby. Curious that I was, I finally walked
into one of these theatres, with the help of a local
student, and was amazed to see the view inside- a huge
auditorium (both Dress Circle and Balcony), big canvas
screen with quality picture, and amazing sound
quality. These theatres show re runs of certain old
Bollywood films (of the 80s and early 90s), with
violence and desire/passion as the chief criteria for
these films, presumably. Bhojpuri films are a major
hit here. In fact, a couple of Bhojpuri films do have
‘star-appearances’ at these theatres.   

But what really interested me were the huge airy fans,
(do we really need air-conditioners??), and of course,
the seats. They were cushion less chairs, made of
iron, which had begun to rust, and you are sure to
tear off some part of your clothes if you are
careless. But one credible thing about them,, you will
never suffer from backache, your posture always remain
right, as opposed to the red and blue cushioned chairs
with head rests and all that, of the multiplexes, they
are good only for dozing away, but the tough
air-conditioner would not allow you to even do that.
Anyways, I hope to move beyond seats and fans very
soon...

Nevertheless, it would be an interesting exercise to
know how films are constantly rearticulated through
the specific historical situations of public
exhibition and reciprocally constructed through a
complex social interchange with audiences vis-à-vis
these spaces, out of which arise two issues: A)
Understanding how films address their spectators, and
most importantly: B) Understand how audiences get
constituted through the social architecture and
phenomenology of film going ( I am hinting at the
social atmosphere within cinema theatres, made up of
noise, talking, intimacies, disruptions and pranks,
which significantly helps shape a shared sense of
films)..

Besides, I would also like to take ‘new people’ to a
screening at these theatres and record their reactions
and feedback about their experience. Also I do wish to
understand the conditions that determine the
re-release of certain films, and what are the material
conditions involved in making such a decision?

Finally, the research aims to gain a significant entry
point for researching the question of experience,
posing as it does the linkages between the cinema, the
rhythms of everyday life and the experience of space,
that context, which becomes a venue for cultural
practice and meaning making.

I shall keep posting my findings and summarize finally
in a written paper in the workshop. Alongside, a
couple of pictures which I shall post over a period of
time and in the workshop. 
Until next posting,,,

mamta

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