"Lights on" Rocks!!

Have you ever experienced the "lights on" tremors at Satyam Cinemas, Chennai? I am new to the city and have been to just two lights on shows, one a screening of "36 Chowringee lane" followed by a conversation with Aparna Sen, and the second one "Hangman" followed by Om Puri. Both were held at Sree.

Both the screenings sent shivers down one's spines, literally. Throughout the show, the hall was vibrating to an extent that on the first day, I thought it was a mild earth-quake shaking the city. (Okay-- first I thought it was my mobile but then I confirmed it was switched off. Then I thought it could be "Krrish" or some such loud film "rocking" the hall below, but it didn't seem to stop. I checked with my friends later to make sure I wasn't the only one who felt it.)

The second time I was more prepared for it, but it is certainly not good news that this is a regular feature at Sree (or is it only for the lights on screenings?) Some special effect that you did not ask for?

[Appendage: I was watching 36 Chowringee lane for the first time and Aparna Sen was an added attraction, so I did not consider leaving the hall on the first day.

Hangman was boring and cliched, and even worse, the illiterate characters of some interior Maharashtra village spoke English-- this happens when one makes films exclusively for festivals. Hariharan cleverly avoided talking about the film, and instead talked about the new wave films that Om Puri was a part of.

The sound during the interaction session was bad both the times, so much that Aparna Sen and Dhritiman Chatterjee decided to go without mics for the entire conversation.

Another bad experience I've had at the Satyam cinemas was the Subham that is "undergoing renovation", where my eardrums suffered badly. Someone has written about it here.]