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My love affair with TV and cinema began at a very young age. Those days... there were no DVDs or CDs. Heck, we didn't have a TV even. I remember my dad bringing home our first TV. I was in Class 1 or 2 then and it was just before the 1984 Olympics.
There were many cinema halls in Imphal then. There was Imphal Talkies, Pratap Talkies, Usha, Victory and Friends Talkies in Paona Bazar; there was Shankar Talkies in Lamphel and Asha and Jina Halls at Awang BOC. This was years before Hindi Cinema was banned and all of these cinema halls would play the latest hindi releases. I remember watching films like Akhri Raasta which had Amitabh Bachhan in a double role and Ek Dujhe Ke Liye which has Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri with the entire family. Once in a while, the whole family, which included aunts, uncles and cousins would take a trip together to one of these cinema halls to watch a movie. We were living in a joint family then with edhou and abok and there were quite a few of us living under the same roof. In the absence of TV and computers, we were all crazy about movies, particularly Hindi movies. Stars like Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit etc were houldhold names. Prem Chopra, Pran and Amrish Puri were names that evoked fear among young and old alike. Of course, now and then, my parents or my brother would take me to see an English movie. I saw many of the Bruce Lee flicks like Fist of Fury and Game of Death and also the Superman movies with my brother.
Towards the end of the 1980s, we got ourselves a VCR player. There were many video cassette parlours in Imphal and I and my brother became familiar with most of them. Whenever we were home during the holidays, I was in Shillong then and he was in Patna, we would watch movies. At times, we would spend the whole day watching movies. It was at that time that I became quite acquainted with Hollywood and Hongkong movies. Charles Bronson (Death Wish), Chuck Norris (Delta Force), Jackie Chan (Project A and Armour of God) became my heroes.
The early 90s heralded the arrival of cable TV and we were introduced to MTV, Star Plus and the like. Things changed rapidly after that. Hindi films got banned. Cheap imitations of Hindi films in the form of the Manipuri digital films entered the scene. Cinema halls, since they were not allowed to play Hindi films started losing their business. After a while, they stopped playing English releases as well. Many cinema halls in Imphal became decrepit from lack of maintenance and closed down. Some were converted into schools, colleges and shopping centres.
A decade into the new century, we now have DTH and so the ban on Hindi films is not really working now as we can enjoy Hindi serials and films in the comfort of our living rooms and bed rooms.
I don't know what the scene is today. The K-pop wave has touched down and I believe, the manipuri films which are being made today have improved in quality and there is now a growing market for these films with the result that many cinema halls are now doing brisk business with these films. Of course, I have not been inside a cinema hall in Imphal in ages and so the next time I am home, I just might catch a film starring Kaiku or Gokul (my son's favourite) at one of these refurbished cinema halls.
There were many cinema halls in Imphal then. There was Imphal Talkies, Pratap Talkies, Usha, Victory and Friends Talkies in Paona Bazar; there was Shankar Talkies in Lamphel and Asha and Jina Halls at Awang BOC. This was years before Hindi Cinema was banned and all of these cinema halls would play the latest hindi releases. I remember watching films like Akhri Raasta which had Amitabh Bachhan in a double role and Ek Dujhe Ke Liye which has Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri with the entire family. Once in a while, the whole family, which included aunts, uncles and cousins would take a trip together to one of these cinema halls to watch a movie. We were living in a joint family then with edhou and abok and there were quite a few of us living under the same roof. In the absence of TV and computers, we were all crazy about movies, particularly Hindi movies. Stars like Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit etc were houldhold names. Prem Chopra, Pran and Amrish Puri were names that evoked fear among young and old alike. Of course, now and then, my parents or my brother would take me to see an English movie. I saw many of the Bruce Lee flicks like Fist of Fury and Game of Death and also the Superman movies with my brother.
Towards the end of the 1980s, we got ourselves a VCR player. There were many video cassette parlours in Imphal and I and my brother became familiar with most of them. Whenever we were home during the holidays, I was in Shillong then and he was in Patna, we would watch movies. At times, we would spend the whole day watching movies. It was at that time that I became quite acquainted with Hollywood and Hongkong movies. Charles Bronson (Death Wish), Chuck Norris (Delta Force), Jackie Chan (Project A and Armour of God) became my heroes.
The early 90s heralded the arrival of cable TV and we were introduced to MTV, Star Plus and the like. Things changed rapidly after that. Hindi films got banned. Cheap imitations of Hindi films in the form of the Manipuri digital films entered the scene. Cinema halls, since they were not allowed to play Hindi films started losing their business. After a while, they stopped playing English releases as well. Many cinema halls in Imphal became decrepit from lack of maintenance and closed down. Some were converted into schools, colleges and shopping centres.
A decade into the new century, we now have DTH and so the ban on Hindi films is not really working now as we can enjoy Hindi serials and films in the comfort of our living rooms and bed rooms.
I don't know what the scene is today. The K-pop wave has touched down and I believe, the manipuri films which are being made today have improved in quality and there is now a growing market for these films with the result that many cinema halls are now doing brisk business with these films. Of course, I have not been inside a cinema hall in Imphal in ages and so the next time I am home, I just might catch a film starring Kaiku or Gokul (my son's favourite) at one of these refurbished cinema halls.
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