Watching Indian Movies in Bay Area California

Watching Indian movies on the big screen in a movie theatre is so much fun! Back in India, we used to watch a movie every weekend at the IMAX, PVR or a regular movie theatre near our house. After coming to California, watching an Indian movie at the theatre does not seem a fun activity. Now, some people may or may not agree to it but there are a few reasons that could keep you away from some theatres in the bay area.

Recently, we have been to a few English movies in Palo Alto. Like always, we do reserve our seats online and collect the tickets from the automated machine outside the theatre. Once the tickets are bought, you just walk to the given screen number auditorium and find your seat. There is no hassle and unorganized crowds. No one who pushes or jostles you around just to find a seat that is away from the screen.

Now, the whole scenario takes a 360-degree turn when we go to a movie theatre that is showing a Telugu or a Hindi movie in the Bay Area in California. It was just last weekend that we went to watch a Telugu movie called Maryada Ramanna at the Serra Theatres in Milpitas, California. Luckily, we reserved our tickets for the show ahead of time. Now, as we drove to the movie theatre, there was no sign that showed a way to the place. We asked a few people at the gas station just opposite the serra way but no one seemed to know the address.

After driving around the place, we stopped at an Indian grocery store nearby. Here, a kind woman helped us to locate the Serra theatres. It was just opposite the gas station in Milpitas! The place seemed to have a big parking lot and hence, parking the car was not a problem. Got our tickets and waited for them to open the doors to the screen. Gradually, the crowds increased and it became difficult to stand and breathe fresh air!

An iron chain barrier kept the crowds at a distance from the screen's entrance doors. When it was time to let the people enter the screen hall, it was a total chaos. Soon as they took the chain away, it became a survival of the fittest. The adults, especially the men, jostled the kids and women in order to rush inside and find a seat. You might notice such a thing happening in a place facing a natural calamity and people trying to grab a bag of food or gain access to a shelter.

Hence, if you have kids or wife who is pregnant, it is best to avoid watching an Indian movie at such theatres. This was a trend in India, where there were few movie theatres and huge crowds. These days, you find totally organized crowds in India at an IMAX or even at a smaller local movie theatre. There are people who monitor the crowds and create proper barricades for moviegoers to walk in a line and get inside the movie hall. This can been easily organized at the Serra Theatre in Milpitas but sadly, no one is taking care of monitoring the crowds and preventing the men from jostling, pushing and hurting the others who also wish to enter the hall and find a good place to sit. Maybe it is time that we all behaved like grown-ups and be a good example to our future generations.