CHENNAI: As Toothless and Hiccup soared through the skies on screen, the children and adults gathered in the theatre hall oohed and aahed with the movie.
This was the scene at SENS: A Special Show for Special Minds, a sensory-friendly show for individuals with special needs, that was held at Sathyam Cinemas on Sunday. The tenth edition of the screening, which officially launched in August last year, featured the film How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
To ensure that the needs of all were met, certain alterations was made to the typical movie watching experience as some, especially those with autism, are sensitive to such stimuli. The lights were brightened, volume was lowered, unrestricted movement in and out of the hall was allowed, and a longer intermission was held.
“There’s been some great progress over the months. We have a WhatsApp group with the parents, and we recently had two screenings of 2.0, and it was a full house. One parent told me that she took her son for a regular show and he was able to sit through it,” said Mala Chinnappa from SPECIALworld, a forum that has been working closely with parents and SPI Cinemas to make the theatre experience more accessible.
“Our objective is: cinema for everyone. We want to bring the community together, but our ultimate goal is to make an inclusive cinema experience where everyone can gather,” said Sivakumar Ganesan, a customer experience executive from SPI Cinemas.
Parents attending the event felt that this was a good way to introduce their children to social situations. “My son can get up and walk if he feels like it. But, he is still watching the movie and communicating to me what is going on,” said Priya Balakrishnan, who came to the screening with her nine-year-old son.