My Movies, My Way!

The greatest movie buff I’ve ever known is Nitish Kumar but for past sometime, I’m thinking of skipping movies at theatres because all latest Hindi movies come to TV within months, thanks to all Satellite Rights. Sadly they are useless because for profit they insert ads, chop scenes, extend the viewing time. Case of English movies, I guess I’ve watched all on TV around couple of times over & over. I’m traditionally a movie theatre person, but that charm seems to be loosing, movies ain’t cheap anymore.

I remember my days in Chennai where would watch movies almost every weekend, had over couple of moviethons and 1 epic day with 3 movies back to back – all in theatre. Went to UK, watched almost all movies, clocking around 4-5 movies in theatre in a month. Back in Delhi, theatres close to mine would charge 2-3 times the amount I used to pay in Chennai and amazingly in many cases are at maximum £3 (GBP) lesser (in some cases MORE) than I paid in UK. In Cineworld UK, movies start at £5 GBP (₹500 INR) and go up to £10 GBP (₹1000 INR)  (IMAX & 3D extra), special shows for kids at £1.75 (₹175 INR), plus there was a Cineworld Card which gave me unlimited movies in a month for around £15 GBP = ~₹1500 INR. Of course I can travel places in Delhi or NCR but considering travel times & total time spend – not very convincing.

Those who know me are sure how much I despise CamRip or even watching movies on personal devices or computer when they are running in theatres. My reasons for not falling for above is:

1. Piracy – Anyways not all movies are good but not paying due credit, chance is taken away for making good movies as good movies are more pirated. Seen many people watching Bahubali in Delhi Metro
2. Details – Missing out the details in video & audio. That is too much. A pirated print is like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger with Mickey Mouse sound. Some get good quality too but they miss CGI or even theme songs or dialogs – which could direct the story to new direction
3. Shaky print – Why risk eyesight of movies – That shouldn’t be hard

I’ve asked people on why they watch such prints. Heard brilliant logic but here are choicest ones:

1. Don’t have time
2. Too costly
3. इतना तो कमा रही है, मेरे अकेले से किनता चला जायेगा? (They are earning so much. How much they’ll lose from me?)
4. बेकार फिल्म है सुना है, कौन पैसे बरबाद करे। (Reviews are not good, who’ll waste money)
5. No one was going with me as they’ve already seen (downloaded!), so I took from them

The main and only reason for watching the downloaded versions is never time or company, it is always had been and will be M.O.N.E.Y. because it’s easier to find movie in theatres when they are playing.

It first started off with Tata Sky Showcase. I can pay ₹75-100 INR and watch a movie as many times a day & even with full family. That’s pretty cheap & convenient. The problem is they’ve latest movies but they are not quite updated. Read they’ve Video on Demand (VOD) but yet to experience that.

The latest obsession is iTunes & Google Play Movies. They’ve a huge list (the list may not be for all, old/classics may be missing) and they are eventually getting new movies. Piku is there, Mad Max Fury Road too, Dil Dhadakne Do & Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation are coming soon (all at time of writing). Rent price range from ₹75-120 for little old ones, ₹150-490 INR for latest ones. Heck even Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge is for ₹75 INR on Rent & ₹250 INR for purchase on Google Play Movies – Take that Maratha Mandir!

I’m movie buff but if I want to watch movie, I’ll prefer Movie Theatre else the above are fabulous.

Pros

1. I can watch movies when they are not in theatre (of course they come when they are out of theatres 😛 )
2. Economically cheaper. 30 days rental period, 24-48 hours unlimited viewing.
3. I can own them too, like having those Cassettes, CDs, DVDs – yeah! I’m old school
4. Stream from any device as they are on cloud. Even store them locally for those “don’t have time” moments

Cons

1. Sometimes takes longer than expected
2. Some production houses don’t have tie-up (we’ve music videos of Lagaan on iTunes but not the movie Grrrr!)
3. iTunes Specific: Change country and they won’t show in Purchased. Good thing, you can download then
4. Google Play Movies Specific: No download option but can save offline on Android device.
5. The purchased movies when on cloud may disappear once their contract with production house ends. Heard many series go away from Amazon & Netflix.

There are pros & cons but I prefer to wait and watch them at my own speed. There are rumours of Netflix coming to India, Online version of Amazon Movies would’ve great (they’ve been selling DVDs for long). Eros Now is a great upcoming service ₹250 INR for a month and get all movies, not sure they’ve offline capability (I’ll prefer a wait & watch here based on catalog provided).

No more nudging on what did s/he say (subtitles included), pause and pickup from where you left. Let’s pay the artists and the support staff what they deserve. I’ll pay them to be My Movies and they’ll play My Way!

P.S.

1. Movie makers: When all movies start making ₹100 Crores INR, it’s time you pay a little back to society by charging a little less. I’m looking at you theatre owners!
2. In case of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal & Aam Aadmi Party, you love to watch movies, so do we. Stop penalizing us with additional tax on TV and Movies.