If you’re a woman living in an Indian city, you know what I’m talking about when I refer to the general category of “creepy guys in public places”. It might be verbal lechery, an actual physical act of aggression or maybe it’s a guy stepping into your personal boundaries – something that makes you uncomfortable. Heck, sometimes just the way someone’s looking at you is enough to give you the creeps. It’s happened to all of us, and we’ve reacted to it – hit the guy with whatever you had in hand (an umbrella, in the case of one of my friends), we might have made a hue and cry about it – trying to gather a crowd, we might have even complained to the appropriate authorities. But more often than not, especially in a city like Kochi – no one takes a young woman complaining about a ‘creepy guy’ seriously. They’ll tell you to ‘try not to provoke this kind of behavior’, or (and I’ve heard this lot, when I was in college) ‘not dress that way’. One place where reaction to misbehavior always backfires, is of course the movie theatre – where you’re ‘disturbing’ the other movie-viewers when you tell off the creep in the next seat, and on complaining to the theatre management you’re met with a bland comment about how they’ll ‘take care of it after the movie’. For me, I can’t help but react to acts of disrespect to women (especially if that woman is ME); but I’m also extremely wary of ‘reacting’ in a movie theatre. This is why I was pleasantly surprised by the management in a theatre in Kochi recently.

My story goes like this. A few weeks back, I went to one of the city’s oldest, most popular movie theatres, to watch the latest mallu satire with my mom and a friend. So, it was just us, three women – and there was an empty seat next to me, which was soon occupied by your average ‘creepy dude’. While I was pretty conscious about my neighbor – I was relieved he wasn’t pulling any stunts. But that lasted only until the interval, soon after which ………well, lets just say, it became impossible for me to sit there and watch the movie. I ruled out the option of telling him off – it wouldn’t have worked. And being 20-something – I’m too old to be ‘telling mommy on him’. So, I told mum I was going to the washroom. I walked out of the hall, went straight to the manager and told him what the deal was. I asked him very politely if he’ll help me or not – and I was preparing myself for the ‘we’ll look into it after the show, madam’ speech – when, to my surprise, he called for the security guard, turned to me and said “Say no more, madam – we’ll take care of it. Just show the guard where this man is seated”. So, I did – and the creepy guy was immediately removed from the cinema hall. I would assume he was escorted out of the premises. And thus, I was able to enjoy the second half of the movie in peace.

While I’ve been impressed by the way almost all the movie theatres in Ernakulam have been revamped and given facelifts, this is the first time I’m encountering such a prompt and clean response to a woman’s complaint. I am deeply impressed. Here’s a big thumbs-up to the management at Saritha-Savitha-Sangeetha, for doing their part in making
Kochi’s theatres safer for women. Let’s hope the other movie houses in the city take notes from them –
if they’re not already doing their part!

The famous duo from Boing Boing is at it again.! But not on the silver screen this time, but through the play ‘Chayamukhi’ that will be staged at JTPAC on 17-October-2009.

Play Chayamukhi based on the interaction between Bhima and Keechaka, is making journeys of their own. The play opens with Bhima’s monologue, which starts with the line: “How much more distance to be covered?” Thus begins his journey, in search of his true love in life – only to realise that his love was never returned.The play is a fusion of the Mahabharata and the present world and the entire story is told and viewed through the eyes of three petty thieves who venture into the forest and witness certain events depicted in Mahabharata.Mohanlal played the role of Bheema in this Mahabaratham based drama.

Produced by actor Mukesh’s Kalidasa Visual Magic, the story revolves around the Great epic Mahabharath. Chayamukhi is written and directed by Prasanth Narayanan ,a versatile artist with an ever probing intellect ,a talented writer and a crazy director,Chayamukhi takes the viewer to the realms and thoughts never traversed before.For him, Keechaka is a poet and lover, who loves flowers and celebrates the winter festival to the fullest. Even Bhima regrets killing him, though he does so only because Keechaka deviated from accepted norms of the society. Mukesh plays the role of the kind man in this play. Before came to the stage, Mohanlal and his crew have rehearsed for sixty days to present the drama perfectly.

The Malayalam play ‘Kannadi’ took the audience to the theatre of yore where the plot unfolded through narration and chorus, with music augmenting the lines.

The feeling that life’s an illusion is reflected throughout the play  which  reveals the different sides and emotions of life.

Certainly a superb performance by Magic Theatre under Preetha  Gibu and Susheela Umesh.

The Director

Director Vinod Kumar, a professor in theatre at Kalady Sanskrit  University, was successful in depicting this fantastic play with simple  sets. Credit goes to him for training the 37 children from different  schools in the city who performed from the heart.