This story is from March 22, 2019

Curating an experience for Bengalureans through movies

These movie screenings are different compared to your regular movie screenings that happen in a multiplex.
Curating an experience for Bengalureans through movies
These movie screenings are different compared to your regular movie screenings that happen in a multiplex.
Event organisers in the city are making the most of the Bengaluru weather and the city’s love for food and are clubbing it together. The result is movie screenings in an open venue. These movie screenings are different compared to your regular movie screenings that happen in a multiplex. With comfortable seating options like beanbags and food served similar to what’s shown in the film — these movie nights are finding more takers in the city.
Creating an experience for viewers
Safdhar Adoor, an event curator from the city, who has been conducting such movie screenings for the past two years, says, “We have organised over 100 such movie screenings in over eight cities in the country.
Our movie screenings mostly revolve around the theme of nostalgia, though we have a separate theme every month. We screen old Hindi and English movies, which one would’ve watched a 100 times. Our idea is to bring back nostalgia and the idea of the lazy Sunday evening ambience. People don’t come to our movie nights to just watch the film; they are coming for the experience.”
Similarly, Bharath Divakar, community manager at a performance space in Shantinagar, says that the movie screenings they conduct aims to change the idea of how a family views a film. “We have two kinds of movie screenings — one is called Movie Under the Stars, at which we introduce world cinema to children, and the other one is call Foodflix — where we have a gourmet chef, who prepares the same food shown in the film and we serve it to our viewers. For example, when we screened Pulp Fiction, we had Kahuna Burgers and milkshakes on the menu. The idea is to mix two of our favourite things — food and cinema,” says Bharath, adding that there are two movie screenings every month.
‘The venue and choice of films play a crucial role’
Bharath says that a lot of thought goes into choosing the film to be screened, especially when it’s a screening for children. “We showcase films that are not easily accessible on the internet and put in a lot of thought into the whole process,” says Bharath, adding that before the screening of the main film, they also screen independent short films. “In terms of Indian films, we showcase films from lesser known production houses,” he adds.

Bengaluru’s weather is one of the biggest factors for such screenings, which is why a lot of them are held in the evening when the weather is pleasant. “We usually start our films by 6 pm wherein the viewers can enjoy the film during sunset and this adds onto the whole experience. We normally screen films in hotels, which are centrally-located and boast a nice lawn. This helps us when we have a themed-movie night like Halloween, where we get to decorate the venue accordingly,” says Safdhar.
Viewers prefer open movie nights for the overall experience
Meghana D, a working professional in the city, who has been to such screenings, says, “I like going for such screenings because it’s not in an enclosed space. You get to experience and enjoy the ambience as well. It’s the outdoor setting that appeals to me. The windy space and the relaxed environment, in addition to the food, really heightens the entire movie-viewing experience.”
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