Black Marketing & Rowdy crowds. Review on Gaiety Cinema - Bandra - Mumbai

The black-marketing prevalent in the premises of the Gaiety Galaxy multiplex is a very serious issue. I have one interesting incident to tell the readers that happened in the Gaiety Galaxy multiplex, which confirms the police-black marketers-theatre manager nexus. In October 2000 I was standing near Gaiety theatre, which was screening Mohabbatein, waiting for my friend. The black marketers were openly selling tickets in black. Suddenly one policeman, on special duty, came there and snatched the tickets from one of the black-marketer and tore them and threw them away. This angered the black marketer. He went inside the theatre and came out with the manager! The manager summoned that policeman inside. God knows what happened inside. The policeman came outside and disappeared from the theatre premises and the black marketer continued with his business as before. But black-marketing is not the only problem in the Gaiety Galaxy multiplex. The audience has also to bear with the rowdy crowd in the theatres. They make so much noise and spoil the fun of watching the film. I had a very bad experience while watching DCH (the last film I saw at G-7). I could not hear a single dialogue in the whole film due to incessant shouting of the rowdy crowd (Akshaye Khanna’s dialogues in muted voice were not helping matters either). The rowdy crowd comprises of either youngsters from the nearby slums or the college going boys. They are in large groups therefore nobody dares to take ‘panga’ with them. Polite requests usually fall on deaf ears. The management of Gaiety-Galaxy multiplex should also deal with this problem or the crowd will dwindle very soon as there are many new multiplexes coming up in the city. Instead of blaming the police or the politicians for his inability to deal with black-marketers, Mr. Manoj Desai should try to emulate the management of other multiplexes where black-marketing is almost non-existent. The police department should take strong measures to counter the black-marketing menace all over the city theatres. But to the credit of G-7, it should be mentioned that the ticket rates are affordable to the common man compared to the new multiplexes where the rates are exorbitant. Finally, it should be noted that my observations are limited to Gaiety and Galaxy theatres only.

AMJAD K. MARUF