I was in high school when the movie Titanic was released. A bunch of us in school decided to go and watch the movie as the movie had a sensational hit across the world and Kate Winslet became a sensational hit amongst us.

In those pre-internet days, to reserve a movie ticket one had to go in-person to the theatre a few days before the day of the show, wait in queue and book the ticket. Then the person has to come back on the day of the movie show and watch the movie. So, two trips to make sure that you get to watch the movie.

My friend Venkat, his brother, a classmate of ours and I went to went to Devi Theatre complex on Mount Road to watch the movie. Since the movie had been theatre for a few weeks by then, we thought we should be able to get the tickets at the counter itself if we go a couple of hours prior to the show.

Turned out that our collective instinct was wrong. We saw houseful board at the counter when we reached the theatre. But we managed to buy tickets from one of the guys who was selling the tickets with a markup. Only two of tickets were for seats adjacent to each other. The other two were scattered in random corners in the theatre. Too bad. But in those days, it was considered better than going home without watching the movie.

Devi Complex had four theatres: Devi, Devi Bala, Devi Kala and Devi Paradise. We got tickets for the Titanic movie at Devi, the biggest and grandest of the four theatres. Incidentally the movie Titanic ran for 365 days in Devi theatre.     

Devi theatre was one of India’s first theatres to install Dolby audio. In those days Devi Complex competed with Satyam Cinemas for the best multiplex in Chennai. Alas, Satyam won the battle in subsequent years because of tasty popcorn!

Devi theatre is a large movie hall by today’s multiplex movie hall standards. All the movie classes in the theatre were in the same level. It was one large movie hall – end to end.

We settled down in our seats right on time for the movie to start. The grandeur of the onscreen Titanic ship mesmerized me. The beauty and charm of Kate Winslet as Rose eclipsed even the grandeur of the Titanic. And Leonardo Di Caprio as Jack unnecessarily tagged along with Rose throughout the movie.     

The plot moved seamlessly towards the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic due to the collision with an iceberg. Everyone in the theatre was hooked to the screen. Then the heart wrenching scene slowly unfolded. To save Rose from drowning, Jack decides to stay in the cold Atlantic waters. As a result, Jack dies of Hypothermia. Rose if heartbroken on realizing that Jack is dead.

You could sense the collective sadness in the movie hall. At this very juncture, I heard the voice of my classmate saying, ‘Jack Illana Yenna Ma, Naan Iruken Unaku.’ (Translation: What if Jack is no more; I am there for you). A tsunami of laughter swept through the entire movie hall! Even after the laughter died down, the humor vibe still lingered in the air.

And so, an off-the-cuff remark by a mischievous teenager evoked an anti-climatic response from the audience for the most iconic scene from a movie that went on to win 11 Oscars and made more than $1 Billion in box-office collections. In that moment, my classmate became the David who vanquished James Cameroon, the Goliath with a verbal pebble.

This is the third post in the series, ‘From Chennai to Madras Down the Memory Lane’

1st post in the series: A Friend’s House

2nd post in the series: Sharing Slivers of Joy