Entertainment A few hundred miles away from the cinema capital of India- Mumbai, in western India, tent cinemas visit the villages as an accompaniment to religious fairs which begin after the crop gathering season in October every year. In keeping with the transient nature of the traveling cinemas, the architecture is ingenious and equally mobile- ultimately the entire setup can be heaped up inside a truck. In a typical tent talkie, a tent is pitched in a clearing. The rear of a truck juts out from the tent, and the belly of the vehicle houses the film projector. The film is projected onto a huge screen erected inside the tent

A distinct feature of the architecture of these itinerant cinemas- the fashionably modified walls and roofs of the tent are often constructed from discarded film posters and banners.

The belly of the modified truck that houses projectors and serves as a projection room also doubles up as a cabin to keep prints, tickets, registers and records. The accountant also finds his space in here along with the projectionist.

In this rustic milieu in India begins the story of an inadvertent cultural connect with the west - in mid 1940s, when some of those enamoured by the first grainy images of cinema had brought 16 mm Bauer projector from Bombay. As the first images whirred to life on a taut white cloth raised in clearings in villages, a novel cultural experience presented itself before audiences who sat agape, witnessing the magic. Gradually, old Bauer projectors found themselves carted off into dusty villages by maverick lawyers, doctors and producers who formed the first touring cinema companies. Till date, the same projectors- though modified and much Indianized, have been handed down like heirlooms- across generations spanning more than six decades.

The religious fairs which also bring with them the magic of the silverscreen, beckon these remote villages once every year in such areas deprived of standing cinema halls. The enthused patrons of the tent cinemas want to gulp in the atmosphere, stock up on fare of their dreams to last them an entire year before the gypsies of cinema return. Most of the films in the tents are targeted at the women who are the primary audiences, and lap up mythological and social dramas in the local language Marathi. Hundreds huddle up in the conical darkness of the tent, for one of the packed night shows.

Apart from films in the local dialect, some tent owners also screen mainstream Hindi films, often employed as teasers to attract audiences. Seen on this screen, erected inside the tent is one of the year’s biggest Hindi blockbusters starring Shahrukh Khan. In the quirky tent cinemas, shows run back to back until morning, with the only break between 6 am and noon.

In every village hosting a fair, a clearing is spared for travelling cinemas where an array of tents is pitched. Crowned with posters of various hues and tube lights in star like formations the tent cinema companies offer a range of films through the day; and the accompanying food and shopping stalls make it an experience akin to the urban multiplexes. As the evening wears on thousands of devotees gathered for the annual religious ritual give in to the temptation of watching their screen gods magnified in the belly of the tents after bowing their heads at the altar of the divine.

The patrons are shouldered, kicked, churned into the seething mass of audiences but brave it all to see their favourite heroine who is often caged in a two-people wide rusted tin enclosure which doubles up as a ticket dispenser. In this unique marketing strategy, the female lead of the film running in that specific tent, sells tickets and also hands out a complementary photograph of herself to the breathless fans lining up for a dekko. Seen here is Disha Kadam, the female lead of many a social drama locked in a ticket booth, as gaping audiences jostle for a sneak peak

The advertising techniques employed by the tent cinema companies stop short at nothing. Seen here is an old Indian car- the Ambassador which has been suitably modified to do the rounds of the villages, luring its patrons to the tent cinemas.

As the tents struggle for survival against the onslaught of slick, fast-paced modes of entertainment, one is overwhelmed by the charm of these antiquated rural multiplexes, which stand determined to offer a stiff fight before they fold up.

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