It was 1913 when the first Indian mookie film 'Raja Harischandra' hit the screens. Although the people, then, felt it a visual miracle watching a motion picture, they did not believe that it would emerge as an ultimate entertainment for the people, one day.
Bheeshma Pratigna, which was released in 1921, was the first mookie film of Telugu land while Bhaktha Prahlada (1932) was the first talkie film of Tollywood. Telugu people, then, couldn't imagine that the people of their subsequent generations would adore and admire films more than like anything and would worship heroes and heroines, the demigods.
It was the early 1980s when 'Doordarshan' mania was prevalent across the nation. Some analysts, those days, drew conclusions that the theatrical cinema would die with the spread of Doordarshan in every house. However, nothing of that sort happened as people's utmost fondness for movie watching in theatres never ceased in succeeding years.
In the following years, electronic devices such as VCPs, VCRs and CDs provided ample entertainment for the viewers in watching films on small screens. Yet, the interest in watching on the silver screen never wound up.
New millennium ensured drastic changes in people's entertainment. The phenomenal spread of Internet, online gaming, computer technology, unthinkable advancements in mobile phones and mobile internet provided people innumerable forms of entertainment. And lastly, OTT platforms paved the way for the people watching films of their choice at any time at quite low prices.
Yet...yet..., even today, the ultimate tool of entertainment for the audience is none other than watching a cinema in theatres. We may watch movies on cell phones or TVs. But they never offer us the best entertainment we wanted as they are just mini screens. Watching a film on a big screen only takes us to another world but neither a mobile phone nor a TV. In short, watching films on big screens along with our friends or family members offer a sumptuous feast to our eyes but nothing else.
Today, a big film of Tollywood 'Solo Brathuke So Better' is hitting screens in theatres after a huge gap of nine long months post the spreading of coronavirus pandemic in India. Let's celebrate movie watching only in theatres.