Off to the movies!

Watching James Bond do his stuff in the cinema hall, it felt as if life was finally returning to normal

 

Streaming services have kept me sane during the pandemic, and I will always be grateful to them for the cheer they provided during this difficult time. But even as I was binge-watching all my favourite shows from the comfort of my couch, I still missed going to the cinema. There is something special about sitting in a large, darkened hall, with a bunch of other people and watching a movie on a giant screen. And no matter how hard you try to replicate that experience at home, it simply does not work.

 

So, you can imagine my excitement when Delhi cinemas opened just in time to air the new James Bond movie, No Time To Die. But that excitement was shot through with more than a smidgen of apprehension. Was I really going to sit in close proximity with strangers in a closed space for around three hours? Did the risk-benefit analysis really work? Was it worth taking a chance on getting Covid simply so that I could watch Daniel Craig on a big screen, doing the final honors by Bond? 

 

Well, after much agonizing and discussion with my husband – a die-hard Bond fan himself – I decided to bite the bullet and head out to the movies. Cinemas are only allowed to sell 50 per cent of their seats, but we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and chose an afternoon show on a weekday, on the grounds that this would be less crowded.

 

It’s hard to describe the thrill when we entered the darkened hall to be shown to our last-row seats by an usher. Looking around, we were delighted to note that our strategy had worked. The hall had only a smattering of people, all of them seated at some distance from one another. In fact, we had sat in closer proximity to strangers in some restaurants we had dined at recently; not to mention some flights we had taken since the pandemic began.

 

Somehow those comparisons made me feel rather more secure. And even though I had arrived wearing an N-95 mask, which I was determined to keep on for the duration of the movie, I soon began re-evaluating my decision. As the smell of buttered popcorn wafted in the air, and my mouth began watering in anticipation, I began to wonder why I was so reluctant to unmask in here. After all, I unmask and eat in restaurants and airplanes all the time, when other people are seated so much closer to me. So, why was I so scared to do so in a cinema hall, where there was far more social distancing?

 

My husband must have been having the same kind of thoughts, because the next thing I knew we had giant tubs of popcorn in our laps (with Diet sodas on the side). And as the ads finally ended and James Bond appeared on our screens to scattered applause, we settled down to the movie experience that millions have enjoyed over the past decades. A crunch of salty popcorn in our mouths, washed down with a rush of sugary sweetness, and a cracking good story on the big screen to lose ourselves in. 

 

It felt so great to be back at the movies. But more than that, it felt great to have a taste of normalcy in our lives. To do the kinds of things that we did before the pandemic struck. For those three hours at least, we could pretend that Covid 19 did not exist and all was well in the world.

 

Of course, the moment the movie ended and we put our masks back on to exit the cinema hall, reality came crashing back. The coronavirus is still very much among us and will probably be around for years to come. But the only way to cope, I believe, is to take joy in little things – like being able to go to the movies. 

 

You should try it – but pick an afternoon, weekday show if you can!