Thursday 11 December 2014

Meet Maratha Mandir Ke Popcorn Wale Uncle

In the last 30 odd years, not much has changed at the prestigious Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai. Their seats, their ambience, their architecture, their canteen and Lalji Yadav.
We’d all picture him as the popcorn wale uncle at Maratha Mandir.

POPCORN WALE UNCLE…

Meet Lalji, a staff member at the Maratha Mandir canteen.
It’s been over 30 years now, since Lalji has been a staff member at the prestigious Maratha Mandir theatre. He’s seen the theatre evolve over time, a generation of moviegoers transform into another. He’s seen the transition of the cinema-audience relationship. And he’s seen the magic that movies have on people.
I went Maratha Mandir a few weeks ago to gauge the audience of DDLJ. There I met my popcorn wale uncle-Lalji dada. At the age of 58, he was the most pro-active staff member at the great theatre, and welcomed me with a smile. As I began picking my choice of snacks, dada happily served me, and the conversation began. Dada was more than elated to share his experience of 30 years, in an unrealistic span of some multiples of 30 seconds time. On what keeps him hooked to this place for over 30 years, the answer was promptly shot back saying that it was the enthusiasm that people have for the movies and their happy faces that makes him a happy man here...  Read More

Courtesy: Cinemawali Twist