6th August - A trip to India would be incomplete without a Bollywood cinema-going experience, so what better place to go than Jaipur's 'Raj Mandir' Cinema - the most famous movie house in India. Having heard about it from a number of sources we decided to see a new Bollywood production called "Love Aaj Kal" which translates as "Love, Now and Then". This turned out to be a memorable event.
We went to the cinema to pre-book tickets and found that there are various windows and queues to negotiate. The cinema has seats in 3 price brackets - Emerald, Ruby and Diamond - Emerald being the lowliest, and Diamond the creme de la creme. As the price was affordable (about $3.00 Australian) we went for Diamond.
It was a festival weekend so the queues were exceptional. There were separate queues and ticket windows for ladies and gents. 
Apparently as it gets so crushy in the queue, some men take the opportunity to feel up the women, so the gender divide is strictly enforced. We watched about 100 men - mostly good humoured - queuing, but at one stage a scuffle broke out and a police woman in a rather butch uniform shoved her way into the mellee and started whacking the stirrers in their backs with a cattle stick. Suitably chastised the culprits settled down.
Segueing to the big night, we arrived at dusk to find the forecourt and the cinema foyer abuzz with families and young couples dressed in their finest saris, salwar kameezes, shirts and jeans. The decor inside looked edible, mirroring the confectionary on sale at the candy bar. Faded pink, brown and cream plaster mouldings on the walls and ceilings reminded me of neopolitan ice-cream, and the blotchy mirrors and chrome and rather discoloured blue carpet gave the place an air of somewhat faded glory. 
We joined everyone else snapping photos in the foyer before ascending to the dress circle. I went to the powder room to check my lippy and found a group of excited young women doing the same. The walls had mirrors all round so you could see your reflection from several angles going on into infinite.
The movie was a hoot - a feelgood romance set in 2 eras, with the same leading man in each story playing himself and his uncle. The dance routines were fab and totally over the top, and even though there were no subtitles we got the general drift. We felt a bit left out when the crowd laughed uproariously at a couple of points and whistled and stomped their feet at a particulalry feisty speech from the stupendously gorgeous female lead (who Guy has fallen totally in love with). There was an intermission too!
http://loveaajkal-illuminatifilms.erosentertainment.com/ is a brilliant site.
It was a really uplifting experience and we can't wait to see the film again with subtitles. Leaving the cinema with the crowd, all grinning from ear to ear and emerging into the dusty Jaipur night, the beeps and hustle of traffic and a full moon, was one of those unforgettable experiences.
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