Walking home from the PVR Saket complex this evening, a copy of Shantaram in one hand and a bag of shwarmas in the other, I encountered a group of men dressed in dhotis and worn shirts, who asked me for directions. They looked like they had been walking a very long distance.
“Bhai saab, yeh PVR taakis kahan hai?” one asked me, or at least that’s what it sounded like.
I figured they meant the movie hall but couldn’t be completely sure; for all I knew, any number of new buildings/offices/dhabas might have come up in the colony that were informally called PVR-something-or-the-other. When I hesitated momentarily, one of the other men said “jahan phillum lagti hai” and simultaneously the first one said “PVR taakis” again. I directed them to the hall and walked off, realizing that what the first guy had meant was “PVR Talkies”. That was so cool. PVR Talkies. Jahan talking picture dekhne ko milta hai. Takes you right back to another era, doesn’t it, while also serving as a reminder that many movie theatres outside of the big cities are still referred to that way.
Anyway, I loved it, partly because of the nostalgia I sometimes feel for what the PVR complex used to be like 15, or even 10, years ago (but that’s material for another blog). PVR Talkies. Wonder what Ajay Bijli would have to say about that.
Taakis is a term commonly used for theatres in hyderabad even to this day. If you are 20 something and out on a date with a girl you would not even say the word in your dream, but if you are a 40 something looking to get away from the humdrum of daily life "picture dekhne koo taakis jaaroon" is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteI was just about to say the very same thing - 'taakis' in Hyderabad is still used to mean cinema halls. We used to live near a one at one time and all autowallahs were directed like that: 'Basant taakis kane chod do.'
ReplyDeleteShawarmas? Did you say shawarmas? The arabian sandwich shawarmas? The ones I can't find in Bombay and hog on in Dubai? Sigh.
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