The first one is always special...

September 8, 1995 will always be a special date for me. It was the day that I fell in love with Bollywood. It was the day I fell in love with watching movies in theaters. It was the day I first experienced that strange feeling when the film certificate comes up on screen and the lights dim out. It was the day I first did advance booking.

It was the day Rangeela released.

The trailors on TV were already a rage and the songs were scorching the charts. I had, like any self respecting teenager, bought the Rs. 38/- audio cassette, which proudly screamed " A.R. Rahman's First Hindi Score".

I remember cycling up to Rahul, Pune's best theater at that time. We were about 14 of us, all my basketball club gang. Some of us rode solo, some of us double-seat. The balcony ticket was a steep Rs. 50. What had surprised me, was that Dad had actually seemed happy in parting with the money. And that time, too excited, I didn't give it too much thought. But over the years, As I got to know him better, I realized that my love for Bollywood was somewhat inherited from him.

He too remembers watching Kashmir Ki Kali on the day his 11th standard exams got over. He remembers every movie he saw during his days in Nair Hospital and Dental College (NHDC), Mumbai from 1965-1970. He told me once that when he went for the First Day- Matinee show of Teesri Manzil, he loved it so much that during the Intermission, he did the advance booking for the night show of that day itself.

Rangeela was an unforgettable experience. Right from experiencing on-screen titillation for the first time during Hai Rama to having moist eyes during the climax scene.

During Rangeela I though Id seen it all... It surely was the best movie that year, the acting , the music...

But I was to get luckier. Just one month and 13 days later, on October 20, 1995 I found myself with more or less the same people and in the same theater.

Watching a 3 and and a half hour movie called Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

A movie that gave us the most incredible on screen pair. Ever.
A movie that changed the meaning of palat ( looking back).
A movie that took us beyond India. Realistically. And then brought us back.
A movie that we all, unfailingly, even now, watch for at least 15 min if its playing on TV.


A movie that gave us the most famous screen names, Raj and Simran. Which have spawned the most common college canteen and classroom graffiti you can ever find : Raj loves Simran.

Even now, 13 years and gazillions of theater movies later, when the Film Certificate comes up and then the lights dim ever so slowly, I feel the strange rush of adrenalin. I love movies. Unapologetically and unabashedly.

What can I do? Its in the genes.