South City Mall

Saturday, 7.40pm show of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, INOX South City: Houseful

Sunday, 7.40pm show of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, INOX South City: Hall half-empty 
Where were all the people at South City on Sunday evening? In front of the giant screen, watching India’s must-win encounter against Australia in the World T20 at Mohali. At least 500 young fans assembled in front of the giant screen in the mall atrium to cheer for Team India. “We love coming to South City Mall to watch games because it’s the only other place which gives you a stadium-like atmosphere,” smiled Malvika Saraf, a Virat Kohli fan who was at the mall with mother Mamta. 

For best friends Rudra and Roushan, it is superstition that keeps bringing them back to the popular south Calcutta hangout zone on big match days. “We had watched the 2011 World Cup final (that India won) at South City Mall, so we have made it a point to watch all of India’s games this year here,” said Rudra, sporting a Team India jersey. 
“Footfall at the plex has seen a massive 40 per cent drop compared to Saturday evening. Usually, around this time, all of our three ticket counters are open and busy. Today, one has been more than enough,” said a spokesperson for INOX South City. 

Some fans had the best of both worlds, like father-son duo Rajeev and Vivaan Rathi. “We had booked our tickets for the 4.25pm show of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice so that we’d reach home in time for the start of the match,” said Rajeev, stepping out of INOX to return home with his five-year-old son.

For about of a quarter of the Australian innings, there were less than 500 people watching the cricket drama unfolding on the giant screen. The number kept increasing as India clawed their way back into the game. Usman Khawaja’s wicket brought the crowd to life and there was no looking back after that. From a dot ball to a wicket, the crowd erupted every single time the Indians did something noteworthy to dent Australia’s progress.

City Centre Salt Lake

Law professor Sambhu Prasad Chakraborty knew he was risking a fight at home. But that didn’t stop him from asking his wife to shop on her own at City Centre Salt Lake on Sunday evening. 

Chakraborty stood in front of the giant screen beaming live the crunch match at Mohali. He was holding three-year-old daughter Aanandee with his right arm and seven-month-old son Aarya with his left. 

“I asked my wife to do the shopping while I caught at least some part of the match on the giant screen,” said the professor of law. “I will go back home and watch India’s innings,” he said near the end of the Australian innings. 

The Kund area of City Centre Salt Lake had become a mini Mohali on Sunday evening. The hangout zone of the shopping mall was packed with young people and entire families, many of them taking vantage positions on the stairs to watch the match. The crowd would rise every time an Australian wicket fell. Towards the end of the innings, even a dot ball would invite such loud cheering that you could have mistaken it for the fall of a wicket. 

During the break between innings, the Kund became almost empty. So, would the Indian chase play out in front of an empty mini Mohali? No. As soon as the Indian innings started, the place filled up quickly all over again.

Neha Roy and Ankit Verma had been among the few who didn’t get up even during the break. “I was in my hometown Lucknow during the India-Pakistan match. Today, I came here to enjoy the match in the company of other fans,” said Ankit, who works for TCS in Calcutta. “We might not stay here till the end of the match, but we will try to stay as long as possible.” 

Park Street

Calcutta’s favourite chill-out zone wore a deserted look around 9.25pm. On any other Sunday, the popular restaurants there would have been chock-a-block around this time, with as many people waiting for their turn outside as those busy with their forks and knives inside.

Food was, of course, farthest from the Team India fan’s mind as India scratched to 24 for 1 at the end of four overs in Mohali. From Peter Cat to Kusum Rolls (beside Olypub), sales dropped at all Park Street food stops during what should have been the Sunday peak. 

Mocambo saw the number of diners drop between 20 and  30 per cent over the previous Sunday. The usually teeming Olypub looked bleak with only a dozen occupied tables, allowing a handful of waiters to enjoy the game at a nearby shop. “Aaj halka din hai (today is a light day),” one of the waiters said with a grateful smile.

Mohali had also dented ice-cream man Rameshwar’s Sunday business. “I have been selling ice-creams in this spot for 15 years and I have never seen it this empty on a Sunday evening,” he said in disappointment, standing in front of Au Bon Pain.

The unusually quiet Park Street meant an easy day at work for constable Prabir Kumar Das. “We usually have double the number of cars at this hour on weekends. There are barely any people on the street today,” said the cricket-crazy constable, tracking the game on his mobile phone.  

He might not have known then that an Indian victory would quickly change that.

Eco Park

6.07pm, Sunday: Around 20 people are in the queue in front of the Eco Park ticket counter

7.23pm, Sunday: Not a soul outside the ticket counter with seven minutes to go for the start of the India-Australia World

T20 match  

Eco Park in New Town mirrored Calcutta’s mood on Sunday evening. The park had been buzzing since afternoon, just like on any other Sunday — parents playing with their children in the open spaces and young people hiring bicycles to take a 
tour of the park. But as the clock hands inched closer to 7pm, the crowd started to thin out. 
The gates to the park close at 8.30pm, but on Sunday there were only a handful of people arriving in the last hour and a half. 

The few visitors who were moving about on their bicycles no longer needed to ring the bell every few seconds because there was hardly anybody walking through the paved pathways. The food stalls were vacant, as were the benches on which you wouldn’t have found a place at sunset. By 7.20pm, the parking lot had emptied out, too. 

Reporting by Subhajoy Roy and Rwitoban Deb,  pictures by Anindya Shankar Ray and Sanat Kumar Sinha