Twenty-nine years. That’s how long it’s been since Arnold Schwarzenegger first appeared as The Terminator. And on his 66th birthday, today, Gnanansambandam S, a tailor who works in Purasawalkam remembers it the film like it was last weekend. “I think I watched it in Motcham theatre here. It was in English which I did not know very well, but Arnold (he pronounces it Urnaaald) was the action king for us,” he recalls happily.
It’s not just him though. Plenty of movie buffs who watched Schwarzenegger bulldoze baddies in the 80’s and 90’s are still hoping for a ‘Total Recall’.
As the seasoned, politically-hardened action hero turns 66 on Tuesday, Arnie’s fans have their fingers crossed that he will agree to make at least one more Terminator movie. “My son, who is doing his engineering now, has informed me that there is talk of Arnold coming back for Terminator 5.
If that happens, even I will go watch first day first show with these young fellows,” he beams. His wish may just come through, as reports from Hollywood suggest that the actor has been actively considering working with several sequels to his early hits — like True Lies, Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator series. Schwarzenegger was a huge hit in Indian film circles and still remains one of the top-grossing action heros of all time. Distributors confirm that Terminator 2, Commando and True Lies were among the biggest English film releases in South India in the 90’s.
“The degree of action in those films was far superior to Tamil movies those days and people loved it, though they hardly understood the dialogues,” says Raja, a distributor in the Salem region.
“When Terminator 2: Judgement Day released, my wife and I had just had our first child,” recalls Ajit Bobraj, who runs a sheet metal business now, “She was in a hospital in Royapettah and so my friends kept calling me to watch the film at Woodlands theatre.” He remembers distinctly, “They even told me that they had spent Rs 50 to buy the ticket in black and it was a pretty large sum back then,” says the 46-year-old.
“I went! I told my in-laws that a friend had passed away and promised to return in two hours. Thankfully, there was no cell phone back then,” he laughs.
Will he show the same fervour now? “Well, I’ve watched every one of his movies up to The Last Stand (2013), despite the fact that they weren’t as great. So yes, I will definitely keep that tradition,” he assures.