For The Love of Cinema

On a flight from Chennai to London I remember sitting beside 3 men who were in the middle of an intense conversation. As I settled into my seat, I remember overhearing their conversation in Thamizh about financial difficulties they were enduring at that time.

One of them spoke about his goal of owning a house one day where he could live with his wife and kids. Another said he wants to make enough money to send back home to his mom. And the other patiently listened and agreed to each of their goals. I assumed they were recent immigrants to the UK, with the intention of finding better-paid jobs that will support their families who were still in India.  Their mannerisms, dialect etc made me assume that they were from small communities filled with big dreams.

Moments later, they were scrolling through the list of movies that were streaming on our flight, and I was amazed! They knew the storyline for almost every Hollywood movie on the list. One narrated the screenplay to the other with such passion and understanding as if they were the writers or directors themselves. It made me realize how much of an impact cinema has on people from all walks of life. Regardless of who they are, where they are from, or how much they earn, a movie has the ability to unite people unlike anything else.

Whether its 90 minutes or 3 hours long, people in a movie theatre are transported into another world where they all get to put aside their worries and sorrows of reality to enjoy a world of fantasy together. Some movies evoke emotions that people experience in their lives while some hit you on a personal level and inspire you to see another perspective. Regardless, the impact of cinema will always be one that unites people and

gives them a sense of fantasy that keeps the hope in them alive.