Sumit's Inkwell

A couple of weekends ago while sitting with the family my wife asks me if I wanted to watch a movie. Thinking she had something in mind I agree, but when I asked her what we’re watching, she looks at me and says, “I don’t know you pick, you’re the movie guy”. It hit me; every movie we have ever watched in my house has been picked out by me!

Since childhood I loved watching movies. Without getting too personal, home life wasn’t exactly peaceful when I was a kid, it was during movie nights where the house would be relatively calm. I’d sit there on the couch between mom and dad, and we’d usually watch some bootleg Bollywood flick rented from the local Indian store, or we’d flip through channels on basic cable and watch an American movie.

My tiny child brain never knew what was happening, but I loved what was going on screen. It seemed anything could happen in movies; people would do things and behave in ways you’d never see otherwise, and they looked so different than the people you’d normally see outside. At that age I’d often mix reality with what I had seen on television and there was a brief period where I thought we lived next door to the witch from Wizard of Oz.

First Movie

Strangely enough, I can recall the title of the first movie I remember watching. There’s a belief that around age 5 is when we spawn into consciousness and realize we’re a person, and it happened to be just around that time.

Mom would work nights, so it was just me and pops left alone for the night. He’d make me go to bed around 10 and he’d spend a few hours watching TV. Every now and then I’d sneak back into the living room and quietly sit next to him, sometimes he’d make me go back to bed, other times he’d let me to sit with him.  

One night we both were glued to the screen watching a group of men fight a giant Achilles statue. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing, even cheering together at one point when the statue was defeated. That night we watched Jason and The Argonauts, the first movie I can remember watching. What made it so memorable was the fact I watched it with my dad when I was supposed to be in bed, and it was one of the rare times he wasn’t yelling at me.

Quite honestly, I don’t have a lot of pleasant memories with my father, but when it came down to movies we always got along. He would go on to introduce me to all types of titles that would shape my child and later adulthood.

First Time at The Theater

Although we watched a lot of movies at home, we never really went to the theater much. There is only one time I remember going to the movies as a family. EVER. We either watched what was on TV, or what was rented from Blockbuster or the Indian store. Since it was the mid 90’s options were pretty limited without streaming.

My folks were homebodies, they worked throughout the week and the weekends were for resting or running errands. If we did go out it was either to my cousin’s house or to temple, family fun wasn’t exactly a priority.

One weekend in 95 or 96 they decided to go see some new Hindi movie in theaters with my mom’s cousin and his wife. Bollywood films weren’t as of big a thing as they are today, and back then there were a few small Indian owned theaters in the East Bay that would show the newest releases.

We met our party outside of the theater and headed in. It was so bright, there were flashing lights everywhere I turned, people shuffling through the lobby getting to their showings. Dozens of conversations going on at once, and a smell of popcorn intertwined with music floating through the air. It was a spectacular set of stimuli for my tiny brain.

First Favorite Actor

We saw this movie called Ram Jaane that I couldn’t tell you jack about the plot. All I remember is this catchy song where I thought they were cursing in Hindi, and the fact Shah Rukh Khan was in it, India’s version of Tom Cruise.  

Like I said, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about what we watched, I was just happy to be in a movie theater with my parents. A key thing from the movie I clearly remember is the main character played by Shah Rukh Khan. This was early on his career, and reason I know this is because my mom was a big fan who had followed his career since she was in college. So, by default her favorite actor became my favorite actor, probably for different reasons though.

Movies have changed over time, but something Bollywood has held onto for years is the exaggerated hero male archetype. Bloodied and wronged he shows up towards the end of the movie with a renewed spirit to defeat all the bad guys with a single punch and get the girl. And I as a kid freakin’ loved that, and Shah Rukh was one the first actors to make that impression on me.

Roll Credits

Over the years I must’ve seen thousands of movies and much has changed from the days of watching Jason and The Argonauts with my pops.

Technology has evolved changing the way we watch movies, and the movies themselves have changed a great deal. Much better quality, stories, graphics, acting, equipment, CGI and there is so much more to come. I’m excited to see what’s in store for the future of film.

But regardless of the changes in movies and the way we watch them, what hasn’t changed is the way they make us feel. We go back to the night spent watching a movie with our parents when we were supposed to be fast asleep, to the first time we entered a brightly lit theater lobby, to the actors and stories that shaped our childhoods.

Maybe that’s why when my wife asked me to pick out a movie, I didn’t just think about what I wanted to watch, but what I wanted to feel, what memory I wanted to relive, or which world I wanted to revisit. As an adult for me movies aren’t just about entertainment anymore, it’s the closest we have to a time machine, and a figurative bridge to the people we’ve loved along the way.

• Sumit Randhawa