🎬 My father talks to the screen through every movie and this time I let him

Last Sunday I took my father to a Telugu thriller at a Kukatpally multiplex, his first in two years. He is 67 and has a habit I had forgotten about, which is talking to the screen the whole time. Not loudly, but loud enough. He names the villain within ten minutes and he is usually right. By interval the couple in front had turned around twice and I wanted to disappear under my seat. At one point the hero walked into a room and my father said, he is going to get hit now. Two seconds later the hero got hit, and a man a few rows behind us laughed and clapped. My father looked very pleased and whispered that he had seen this same story in 1989 with a different hero. I checked later and the 1989 film exists, and the plot is nearly the same. He was right again. Growing up he took us to the old theatres at RTC X Roads every Eid, and I used to hate this habit. I would sit one seat away and pretend he was a stranger, which I am a bit ashamed of now. This time I sat right next to him and let him talk, and the film felt different because of it. I noticed what he noticed, the old trick shots, the background actors, the songs that were obviously dubbed. After the film we had irani chai outside because he refused to go straight home after a movie. He told me three stories about films he watched as a young man that I had never heard before. One was about walking four kilometres in the rain to see a matinee and sitting wet through the whole thing. I have known this man my whole life and I did not know he did that. Next weekend he has asked if we can go again, and he wants to pick the film himself. He chose a 1970s classic that is being re-released, which means a crowd of people his age. I am already expecting the talking to be even louder, but this time I will bring my own popcorn and relax. If your parents talk during movies, let them. You may end up with a better story than the film.

Meera's point about writing it down is good, I would go further and record him telling the rain story. My uncle's voice on a phone clip is the only thing I replay from that year. You do not need anything fancy, just keep the phone on the table while the irani chai arrives. Ask the follow up questions too, like which theatre it was and who he went with.

My dad does the same at Sudarshan theatre, and the best part is the other old men answering him back. Once a stranger two rows ahead turned around and argued the plot with him for ten minutes. They left as friends and swapped numbers, which still confuses me. Your popcorn plan is smart, I would also carry earplugs for the re-release crowd, just in case.

My grandfather did the same thing, he would announce the interval snack order before the film had even started. We used to shush him and now I would give anything to hear it again. That story about him walking four kilometres in the rain is a keeper, please write it down somewhere. My mother recorded my grandfather's voice notes in his last year and I treasure them more than any photo.