CHENNAI : My earliest memory of Sathyam Cinemas is from 1976. I was barely nine and we were visiting Chennai (Madras then) from New Delhi. My uncle took us to watch ‘Chitchor’ (directed by Basu Chatterjee) at Sathyam. That was a movie with many firsts for me — my first time at Sathyam, my first Amol Palekar film and the first time I heard a song by KJ Yesudas!
The following summer we moved to Chennai. And I distinctly remember, as an adolescent, being drawn to the posters of this movie by J Mahendran called ‘Uthiripookkal’ (1979). I think it was A-rated. So, I bunked school and went to watch this movie with an older friend at one of the screens in the Sree-Sathyam-Santham-Subham complex. I have no idea how my friend got us admitted into the hall. But I remember being whacked by my grandmother when she discovered what I had been up to! Another first here — the first time I bunked classes and went to the movies was at Sathyam! And my first Telugu movie, ‘Sankarabharanam’(K Viswanath), too happened here — in 1980.
Getting tickets back then was such a hassle. I remember often having to squeeze through a narrow queue ‘tunnel’, with ugly iron bars, at the rear of the Sathyam building, to buy tickets. During our eventful courtship in 1988, and in the first couple of years of our marriage (before we moved out of Chennai), my wife Vaani and I have watched several movies here.
Some years later, when we came back to live in the city, Sathyam was again a first choice for us as a family. I can never forget a night show of ‘Air Force One’ (1997) featuring Harrison Ford, which we watched here. We went home past midnight to find that our place had been burgled! Another interesting experience I recall is when ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ was released in 2000, we were in the front row of the balcony.
And our daughter Aanchal, who was just five years old then, was seated on my lap. The moment Hrithik Roshan came on screen, she leaped out of my lap, ran up to the balcony railing and screamed, “I love him! I love him!” The audience cracked up! Sathyam’s charm is like AR Rahman’s music — it has grown on you and so it will stay with you. Over time, brand Sathyam and SPI Cinemas may fade away. But the memories will stay on.
(AVIS Viswanathan is the happynesswala; He is a big fan of Big B and of Sathyam Cinemas — in that order!)