Guru En Aalu
Artist
Ramachandraiah and Raju
Date2009
MediumLithograph
Dimensions20 1/4 x 30 in. (51.4 x 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Gail Anderson
Object numberPH.7120
DescriptionGuru En Aalu (Guru Is My Man) is a Tamil-language remake of the 1997 Hindi romantic comedy Yes Boss, based in turn on the 1993 Hollywood film For Love or Money starring Michael J. Fox. This is the type of movie that was rarely screened in Bangalore multiplexes but found a passionate audience in single-screen theaters. These venues typically cater to different viewers, with the former dedicated to Bollywood and Hollywood films with higher ticket prices, and the latter offering more affordable seats to working-class people who mostly speak Kannada. The audience experience in these two locations is also markedly different. In local cinemas, those seated closest to the screen (frequently called “front-benchers”) often throw coins and torn-up lottery tickets, especially on a movie’s first day––symbolically declaring that they consider a first-day screening to be more valuable than any amount of money they might win. Multiplex theaters in India, particularly those in shopping malls, have transformed moviegoing. The noise that characterizes traditional, single-screen cinemas has been replaced by a decorous silence. On View
Not on view
