Q: What is travelling cinema?
A: Travelling cinema is a mobile, touring cinema that visits villages located far away from fixed site theatres. Typical to mostly rural Maharashtra, the travelling tent talkies started about six decades back when a handful of farmers, lawyers and electricians carted off second-hand projectors of European make from Bombay, along with discarded film reels by the kilo. The process entailed carrying cinema paraphernalia like projectors, tents, poles etc in a truck to remote sites to showcase films in such regions. These touring talkies dating back to 1940s were typical to harvest time symbolising the onset of festivities and celebrations. Cinema projectors (many of them Bauer, of German make) found their way into the jatras (religious fairs) to hawk eclectic mix of films.
Q: To what extent does it exist today?
A: As of today, travelling cinemas in an organised form runs only in Maharashtra. Areas like like Jalna, Satara, Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra are regions where they are still active and thriving. Their organised existence in Maharashtra can be credited to their induction into the jatras, the religious fairs that they accompany. As a result, these cinemas have evolved and become indispensable to the cultural milieu of rural Maharashtra. There has been sporadic presence in Bengal and South India too.
Q: How many such cinemas are shown in one fair?
A: In one fair there could be anything between five to 10 cinemas. As this cinema travels with the jatras touring the villages, they are mounted in the fairgrounds by cinema companies. A typical company includes a manager, projectionists, gatekeepers, ticket sellers, workers and a cook. In the fairs, film shows run back to back from afternoon until six am the next morning. Usually the last show at three am is strictly reserved for male audiences offering semi-pornographic films.
Q: Who watches this kind of cinema?
A: The village audience. The touring cinemas find patronage in villages only. The annual religious fairs collect thousands of potential audiences on their own. Being the main attraction of the village fair, this cinema has learnt to sustain itself from its earnings. Also, the tent cinema owners have developed a masterly marketing strategy: caging a film's actor in a rusty tin enclosure, which doubles up as the ticket window. While selling tickets, they also hand out a complimentary photograph of themselves to the breathless audiences lining up for a glimpse.
Q: What kinds of films are shown in travelling cinema today?
A: Mythologicals, social dramas, comedies, both Hindi and Marathi films. Also, there are old action films, latest Bollywood releases, dubbed Tamil and Hollywood films.
Q: How has this cinema evolved?
A: Having looked through existing mainstream accounts of the evolution of cinema in India, it's noted that mobile theatres have been mainly represented through bioscope companies in big cities. The travelling cinemas, which tour villages in Maharashtra, fall under the 'C Grade' window of exhibition. The first films that were carted off from Bombay were mythological films. Also, in terms of physical format, as against the initial two-pole white tents that facilitated day-long screening, it has now moved to four-pole black circus tent that can be used for screenings in the night.
Q: What is the future of travelling cinema?
A: Many cinema companies have folded their tents. And there's stiff competition from the cable and VCDs industry. Some companies have shifted to digital projectors that are low-cost and easy to maintain. The fact that this cinema is still running has attracted local advertisers in recent times. Going digital is the future for this cinema.
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Rural Maharashtra loves travelling cinema, says research scholar Shirley Abraham
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