Gone Phut!

Our cineastes are crestfallen as Maitra checks furiously on his mobile

All plans to watch Dangal today with the Club (ref yesterday’s post) have ended in a fiasco. No tickets are available. More accurately, the tickets we wanted have been sold out. Or so we were told this morning.
According to plans, those interested in watching the movie were to meet at the booking counter of Fun Cinepolis in time for the 10:30 a.m. show today. That was when the best seats were available (in bulk) for an unbeatable price of Rs100 per head. It was a total value- for- money proposition.
However, as it turned out, all those discounted seats -- barring two rows in the front -- had got sold out in the past 24 hours.
Seeing how crestfallen everybody had become, Siba Prasad Maitra whipped out his cell phone in the Garden and tried online for some equally attractive alternatives – at say, another theatre or show for a comparable price.

Kiran Prakash (r) tries to salvage the situation

For more than half-hour he, together with Dilip Babani, Bhaswati Bose and Yusuf Rassiwala, checked all possible options and finally, drew a blank. Oddly enough, nobody was prepared to pay a rupee over Rs100 for a Dangal ticket. And yet, everybody wanted to go go for the film.
“There is no point pushing this for tomorrow as it is a Friday and ticket rates are bound to shoot up because of the new releases. Saturday and Sunday are even worse as demand multiplies manifold during week-ends. On Monday, we shall leave the Garden late because of our New Year celebration. So our best bet for Dangal would be some time in the middle of next week,” concluded Yusuf R.
Somehow, this got translated to “next month” and later, to “next year” -- the expressions meaning the same.
But it broke Kiran Prakash’s heart. “You mean you people are prepared to wait one year for the movie that you missed today?” he asked incredulously. “This is too much! Please go today itself… at whatever price you get the tickets. Whatever the amount over Rs100, I shall pay the difference. Since you have come all prepared, go right away. What are you waiting for? Please go!”
Not to miss an opportunity, many took a rain cheque on that.
Bihari Milwani from San Francisco:
Everyone should have seen Dangal. You should have then obtained a refund by using the wrestling skills gained from watching the movie.