FDFS

 

From standing in queues to chasing views, what happened to watching a film?
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There was a time when the First Day First Show was a feeling. Not footage.

Not  box office.

Not fan fights.

Just… cinema.

We bunked college, skipped office, lied at home, pulled sleepy cousins along. We went with lovers, friends, family  or alone, because it didn’t matter. The theatre was the destination. The moment those lights dimmed, we weren’t fans, critics, or analysts. We were dreamers.

We stood in long queues. No online booking. No fancy recliners. Sometimes we begged the theatre uncle. Sometimes we celebrated just getting a ticket. No mall, no multiplex, just magic.

And when the film started, we screamed.

We cried.

We clapped.

We forgot where we were.

The hero’s haircut became our hairstyle. The heroine’s saree showed up at weddings. The poster wasn’t content for an Instagram story. It was stuck to our bureau door. Above the mirror. In our hearts.

And now?

We walk into theatres with phones already in hand. Not to switch them off. But to shoot.

To record the opening scene.

To leak a surprise cameo.

To tweet the first reaction.

To shout louder than the scene playing.

What was once a temple,

is now a circus.

Before the second show begins, the twist is already trending. The dialogue is already memed. The climax is broken into reels. The surprise? Spoiled. The hard work? Leaked. The audience? Influenced even before they’ve watched a single frame.

And it’s not just phones.

It’s mics.

It’s mobile reviews.

It’s the YouTube channels waiting outside the theatre.

Shoving a mic in your face as you come out “Hit or Flop, Bro?”  before you even process what you watched.

And the fans?

They’ve stopped watching films.

They’ve started monitoring them.

Budget battles, opening day numbers, box office supremacy, fan wars.

Nobody wants to feel the movie anymore. They just want to know if it beat the other star.

A 3-hour film is judged by a 3-minute mic review.

A 10-year vision is dismissed by a tweet.

Theatres don’t echo with cheers anymore they echo with comparisons.

Somewhere between the popcorn getting better (from yellow to butter to caramel) and the content getting easier (thanks to OTTs), the respect for pure cinema went downhill. With every new streaming platform and every flashy thumbnail, the desire to experience a film eyes and heart wide open began to fade.

The ones shouting loudest aren’t always the ones watching closest.

And the worst part?

We do this to ourselves.

Already, there are a hundred external forces waiting to kill a film:

Poor distribution.

Unfair competition.

Biased coverage.

Leaked footage.

Piracy.

Do we really need to be one more?

Let’s not act like we care about cinema and then be the first to break it.

Let’s not weaponize our phones against the very stories that shaped us.

Let’s not forget: Theatres gave us memories long before they gave us content.

Let’s not measure every frame in views, likes, shares, or fights.

Let’s just… watch.

- Pearl May Art