Several New Town residents spent Ashtami evening watching movies on a big screen in open air. New Town CC Block Puja Samity had arranged for two movies — Eight Below and Lagaan — to be screened at the dead end of Street 241, next to their pandal.
“We figured this would be a good idea since most people haven’t visited movie halls in a long time,” said secretary Biman Samaddar.
The screen was 6ft x 4ft with professional sound system. They had laid out about 70 chairs and the open-to-all shows saw people coming in throughout. The films were played one after the other from about 6pm.
Eight Below is a 2006 Hollywood hit about a rescue mission that returns to the Antarctica to retrieve eight sled dogs that were left behind the previous time. Lagaan is a 2001 film about a fictional cricket match between the British and oppressed Indians. “Both films are my favourites and I played them from my own collection. Lagaan, particularly, never fails to unite the audience,” said Samaddar.
Chandrachur Chatterjee, a senior citizen, had heard “great things” about both the movies and watched them for the first time that night. Aparajita Chakraborty, in her 20s, nearly jumped with joy when she heard Lagaan was scheduled. “Aamir Khan is my favourite,” she said. “The last film I saw in the hall was Uri and I’ve been waiting to watch something on the big screen again. Since I’m not going pandal-hopping, this is the best option,” she said.
Eight Below had a full house by the time the show ended though Lagaan had to be stopped 15 minutes before the climax due to rain.