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Bat-geek count: 84
Bat-geek bill: Rs 9,500
Bat-geek mission: First-dayfirst-show tickets for The Dark Knight Rises
Bat-geeks from Jadavpur University are homing in and taking over. Not Gotham City but Fame (South City).
Eighty-four students from the Jadavpur University Department of English, better known as JUDE, have pooled together around Rs 9,500 to beat other Bat-geeks in town for a Friday morning date with their favourite vigilante’s latest romp on screen.
“Paying Rs 110 for an epic is nothing. We would have made it for the same show no matter what the price,” said Syamantakshobhan Basu, a second-year undergraduate student.
The Bat-plan took shape about two weeks ago when in the course of campus adda it was revealed that almost the entire department was planning to catch the grand finale of the Christopher Nolan trilogy. Musing soon turned to mission.
“We started asking all the classes. We made a list, collected the money and went to get the tickets on Wednesday. We got the tickets for The Dark Knight Rises at 5pm just before advance bookings opened as we had already informed the Fame authorities about a block-booking,” said Saptarshi Dutta, a second-year postgraduate student and one of the three who made the crucial trip to the multiplex.
The last five rows have been booked by the JUDE gang. “Eighty-four Batman fans watching the epic finale together, can you imagine the atmosphere? It would never be the same experience if we had watched it in a small group,” said Dutta.
This is not the first time that the Batman army in JUDE has trooped to catch the caped crusader on screen. In 2008, around 50 students went to watch The Dark Knight. The Rises gang has beaten that with a swish of the cowl.
The first day-first show adventure not only has the “blessings” of the professors, it can legitimately be passed off as a departmental excursion. After all, Batman comics are a part of the graphic novels syllabus at JUDE.
“We are all super-excited. We have read Batman as part of the syllabus and Nolan has done an excellent job with the first two films,” said Aritra Sengupta, a third-year undergraduate student, who backed the bulk-booking plan so as not to miss out on Friday morning tickets in the Bat-fan rush.
Playing it safe with strength in numbers has assured this JU gang of a date with Bruce Wayne on a chock-o-block weekend at the plexes.
“All shows are guaranteed to run houseful for the first three days. The early trends indicate that even the weekdays will have full houses, since many will not get tickets this weekend,” said an official of Fame Cinemas. Fame (South City) has a number of bulk bookings over the weekend for the film. But none as large as the JUDE gang.
At the four INOX multiplexes in town, tickets started flying off the counters the moment advance bookings opened on Wednesday afternoon.
Almost all shows are booked to the brim for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, despite the fact that unlike the last superhero biggie, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises is not releasing in 3D.
By Thursday evening, the 84 tickets had all been distributed and plans finalised to convene outside Screen 3 of Fame (South City) 20 minutes before the 9.05am show.
Bring it on, Batman.
When will you watch The Dark Knight Rises? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com
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