Chapter 181 Released
The small theater in Kana Village is small, with only about twenty seats. The windows are so small that even a child can't climb in.
The theater owner would rather suffer himself than give anyone the opportunity to evade tickets.
At this time, the twenty or so seats were already packed, and more people were trying to get in from outside.
The handrails, backrests, aisles, corners... there are people everywhere, leaving you no time to even raise your hands to scratch.
"How many people does that stingy Anis plan to let in?" Muna turned his head with difficulty.
It was a dark mass of heads, at least hundreds of them.
Anis is the owner of the theater. He checks and sells tickets at the door and sells betel nuts at the same time. He has many jobs.
"Don't talk, the movie is about to start!" Raja held his breath.
There were many people in the room, some were telling dirty jokes, some were chewing betel nuts, and some were breathing heavily with their mouths open.
The smell of sweat, betel nut and bad breath mixed together, making the smell of the theater comparable to that of a toilet on the riverbank.
Suddenly the screen lit up and everyone subconsciously fell silent.
A rising sun appeared on the screen, and the subtitles below read "Sun Entertainment Production Company".
Unfortunately, the villagers were illiterate and just watched the fun.
The low-budget film moves at a fast pace without lengthy build-up.
The first person to appear on the screen is the male protagonist Lanka. He looks unkempt, wearing a denim shirt, jeans, and an American cavalry cap.
As soon as he appeared on the stage, he encountered a few thugs who bullied girls. Then, naturally, just like what appeared in countless movies, the male protagonist began to play the hero who saved the beauty.
Lanka has the halo of the protagonist, which can make everything impossible possible.
He sang and danced, twisted his hips, and defeated three armed gangsters with his bare hands.
His fists were so powerful that they violated the basic principles of physics, making a dull "bang" sound before they even touched the opponent's body.
He would drink whiskey when he was heartbroken, and make a lot of money in business.
The story is not new, but everyone's attention was drawn to it. Who hasn't imagined himself as the protagonist in the picture?
When the actress who played Lanka's vain sister appeared on stage, the theater finally became abuzz.
Oh my god! That skirt is so short that it seems like it will fly up in the wind, revealing the alluring buttocks underneath.
You know what, some people were so anxious that they ran under the screen and blew hard.
Apart from making everyone laugh, it also attracted all kinds of obscene insults.
The plot of "Hail Durga" is as unpredictable as Durga's thoughts.
The film uses a jump-cut technique to describe the major turning points that the protagonist experiences one after another, including getting married, being kicked out of the house, and the marriage running into trouble, but does not explain the details, motives, and purposes to the audience.
The protagonist who was immersed in love in the previous second was heartbroken in the next second, and the audience had to imagine the plot in between.
Therefore, every time the protagonist achieves a small victory, it is a surprise to the audience.
You never know what's going to happen next, and unlike watching mainstream Indian films, everyone's attention is captured like never before.
As a religious film, of course the theme of the film is indispensable, the mother is inaccessible.
When the more than ten-meter-tall plaster statue of Durga Puja appeared, the atmosphere in the cinema suddenly changed.
The devout Hindu stood up and then put his hands together in prayer.
Others threw coins at the screen, as Raja did, praying that soon he would have enough for Lina's dowry so that he too could marry.
The most devout believers even brought lamps for fire sacrifices, and when the two bhajan songs that served as the film's interludes sounded, they held the lamps and waved them along the screen.
The scene was spectacular, completely different from the whistles that sounded when the miniskirt appeared just now.
Sure enough, when the scene that teenagers loved to see appeared again, the theater was in chaos again.
Now there are not only miniskirts, but also almost transparent shirts, kissing scenes and suggestive vulgar dialogues.
When one of the nine incarnations of Durga emerged from the water, it looked just like the one on the poster.
Muna heard with his own ears someone making suppressed groans nearby, and even Raja's breathing became rapid.
Oh, how could I bear this? What kind of religious movie is this? It's clearly a mythological romantic comedy.
A similar scene also took place in a luxurious cinema in Varanasi, but of course there was no obscene whistle like in Khanna Village.
People living in the city are more or less self-conscious about their status. At most, they stare at the screen intently and swallow their saliva quietly.
"Indian audiences have never seen such a big scene." Mary was disdainful of the men's behavior in the theater.
"You know, this is India, even kissing scenes can't last more than 5 seconds." Ron watched with great interest.
During the first screening of "Hymn to the Unapproachable Mother", he sneaked into the cinema with Mary and Lena and sat in the last row.
"These shots are common in the West, but they become restricted in India. I really don't understand the standards of the Film Censorship Board." Lena also complained in a low voice.
"Indian men eat too much curry and are easily impulsive, just like their nerves are paralyzed by alcohol."
What could Ron say, the Film Censorship Board understood Indian men better than he did in this regard.
Fortunately, he had watched many of Mr. Neon's works in his previous life and was basically immune to the current shots.
Schiff managed to squeeze the entire film into two and a half hours, with five song and dance segments contributing greatly to the film's length.
The movie even plays with religious correctness at the end. The heroine, who is the bride, does not think about the bridal chamber, but instead blows the conch shell and sings a hymn dedicated to Durga as the groom gradually falls asleep.
"Do you think our movie will be popular?" Mary asked quietly.
"Of course, look at what's happening in front of you. Besides the male audience, there are also quite a few female audience members. They all come here to see Durga."
There were restricted scenes in the film, but the focus of the promotion was still on religious films, and there were quite a few women in the theater.
"I just don't know how 'Hymn to Durga Puja' will perform in rural areas. Balram always says that the rural market in India is very huge."
"That's what you say, but you'd better not expect anything from it."
"Why?" Mary asked curiously.
"Because movie tickets in the countryside and movie tickets in the city are completely different."
There are many cinemas in India, with an average of 20 million viewers going to the cinema every day.
However, depending on the region, cinemas are divided into three categories: A, B, and C.
A stands for city. Movie tickets usually cost around Rs 60. The cinema is well-equipped with air conditioning and toilets.
In luxury cinemas like Mumbai or New Delhi, the ticket price may be close to 80 rupees.
B represents towns, where the conditions of cinemas vary and ticket prices fluctuate between 20 and 40 rupees.
C refers to the countryside. Forget air conditioning or anything like that. There isn't even a toilet.
Of course, the ticket prices in rural theaters are also the cheapest, basically not exceeding 15 rupees.
North India, where the majority of the population lives in rural areas, is a feudal and conservative place, perfect for a film like "Hymn to Durga".
It’s just that because the ticket price is low, on average every 5 tickets are equivalent to one ticket sold in the city cinema.
After calculating in this way, it is hard to say who contributed more to the box office in the end.
The movie ended and the audience began to leave, with Ron and his friends sparsely leaving at the end.
"Do you trust that Balam?" asked Mary.
"Of course not. That guy is always thinking about how to blackmail me."
"How do we calculate the box office? I'm not worried about the cities. But as for the countryside, you know, we're not familiar with that place."
"Don't worry," Ron smiled mysteriously, "We have people among those projectionists."
Film copies sent to rural areas were made by a team of three: one was responsible for screening, and the other two were responsible for accounting and supervision.
One of the two supervisors was Ron's man, who supervised both the theater owner and his colleagues.
After each movie, the trio would count the box office revenue and split the profits 60:40 between them and the theater owner.
All accounts are settled immediately. The trio takes the money and leaves, taking the copy with them, and then goes to the next village.
Films in rural India are released and revenue is divided in this way.
Often three people can cover most of the rural areas in a week.
The Suer family has no shortage of manpower, and there are hundreds of people in the village.
With them around, Ron had no worries about Balam tampering with the box office.
But the scope is limited to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, and there is not much they can do.
Balam would inevitably inflate the box office figures, but as long as it wasn't too excessive, Ron would turn a blind eye.
There is no way. The entire India is a makeshift team, and it is impossible to achieve perfection.
The three people had not walked far after leaving the cinema when they saw several men surrounding a woman and making physical advances.
It is not difficult to tell from their obscene words that they are some vulgar dialogues in "Praise to Durga Puja".
Ron was a little distressed. It turned out that San was using his small head to control the big head.
There aren't any explicit scenes in the movie, but these people automatically imagined unspeakable plots and are even planning to put them into practice themselves.
Mary and Lena didn't give them any chance. The two girls were so fierce that they beat the thugs to pieces in just a few moves.
The girl who was rescued was very angry. She said thank you and went to the police station to report the crime.
Ron and the other two looked at each other. They suddenly felt that the people in the Film Censorship Committee were not just looking for trouble.
“Hymn to Durga” quickly became a sensation in Uttar Pradesh, where religious stories have always been popular.
With Ron's support, it's hard for the movie not to be a hit.
However, in addition to the popular photos of the movie in major cinemas, there was also an incredible piece of news in the newspapers.
A woman was raped because of the movie "Praise to the Difficult Mother"!
When Mary handed Ron the newspaper, his first thought was the girl he rescued last night.
"Didn't we rescue her?" he asked.
"Yes, but I couldn't save him the second time."
"What's the meaning?"
"She went to the police and was taken to the room by the officers on duty. She couldn't escape because there were four officers there and three suspects."
"Oh my God!" Ron covered his face with his hands. "The prisoners did it too?"
"What do you expect from your fellow men?" Mary scorned him.
Ron spread his hands and asked, "Is it my fault?"
Forget it, he didn't have time to take care of the movie today, he had to go to Mirzapur.
(End of this chapter)
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