ID-100152299

For parents, a movie outing with younger kids is like a roller-coaster experience. One does not have any idea how the journey would pan out. So, normally we go for family movies – read movies where a lot of other kids are present so that your child’s din gets drowned out in the commotion. Or go for afternoon shows on a weekday that are likely to be low on population. Better still closer to your toddler’s lunch time nap. And be prepared to walk out if the child cannot/will not keep quiet.

For us, movie outings are rare though luckily both the kids are past that howling/crying stage. Only if a movie has been positively endorsed by many reviewers do we risk venturing out. Luckily, Satellite TV gives you options like Movies-on-demand and recording of movies at home that do a great job of watching them in peace. But, when you have Gautam at home, you can never say!

Gautam loves asking questions. He just rambles on and on. Even for a TV program, he does that. The other day, “Jab tak hai Jaan” was coming on TV. I recorded it and wanted to watch it to see how bad it could get. There is a draw that we experience towards the very worst and repulsive just like those diabetic Sooraj Barjatya movies, don’t we? Besides, I could fast forward the songs and other stuff which was a saving grace.

The movie, which is quite intolerable, became rather hilarious because of Gautam’s observations. There was this romantic scene in which SRK drops the coffee cups and rushes to hug/intimidate Katrina. Gautam starts, “Doesn’t uncle know that he should not throw cups like this? And all that hot coffee could have hurt someone. He needs to find a dustbin to throw those :-P” *Absolutely Gautam, passion is no excuse for shoddy civic behavior!*

There is another scene where he says, “Why has aunty not finished her food? How can she leave so much food on her plate?” *My sentences come right out of his mouth, I feel!*

When he saw SRK kiss Katrina, peck I mean, Gautam says, “Why do they kiss each other on the lips? I saw that in Star Wars as well.” *eyeroll*

And then there are questions like What is he eating? What is he drinking? How are they letting him into a train where there is a bomb? Why does this uncle have so many accidents? Why why why…

I could watch the movie sans songs and did not wish to kill myself by the end only because of Gautam’s funny observations. Of course, he can be quite a pain when it is an interesting movie that I wish to watch. My favorite excuse to him then is, “You can’t watch the movie. It is not for children :).”

And that helps out a lot when I wish to watch my favorite serials Law & Order and Crime Patrol. BTW, he loves watching Masterchef India with me and Sid :).

Pic courtesy: Freedigitalphotos.net

69 Thoughts on “When you watch movies with kids!

  1. Well ! At least the kiddo made watching an unbearable movie like Jab tak hai jaan bearable !

  2. Hmm.. Today generation is so fast want to know everything…. !!!.. Nice posy keep writing… 🙂 do visit my blog

  3. Very interesting post Rachna. I can imagine how much you would have ‘enjoyed’ the drab movie because of Sid’s interesting comments.

  4. LOL 😀 Gautam’s questions and observations entertained you more than the movie! I missed watching JTHJ last weekend, I was so looking forward to see and understand all the hullabaloo about it!

  5. reekycoleslaw on April 25, 2013 at 4:08 pm said:

    Hah! I know that you’ve been wondering how to bell the cat called Himmatwala. Well, there’s your answer right there! 🙂

  6. Rachna all your training has taken firm roots-GOOD!!!!!!

  7. Ha ha! you seem to having the time of your life while Gautam is doing movie observation.. 🙂
    Do you remember those movies where in the end, hero/s (on a bike or car) crashes through the windows to save his mother/sister/wife from villain’s den? While I was in India and during my college days, whenever my family sat to watch such movies/scenes, I used to watch my family’s reaction instead, after watching their reaction, I used to send out shrieks of laughter and nobody could understand why I was laughing at them. (Maybe they thought I had gone mad) :-p

    Simply loved your sons questions muuah.. :-*

    • hehe It’s interesting to observe it. I do it too sometimes. And, sometimes in movie theatres, when some people were crying bucketloads in one of Sooraj Barjatya’s flicks, my laughing fits got triggered, much to the annoyance of others :).

  8. Such pertinent questions. Sometimes I also watch movies or a show to know how bad it can get. Jab tak hai Jaan was such a disappointment. Couldn’t sit beyond ten minutes.

  9. ““You can’t watch the movie. It is not for children” thank god they r not replying, “u cant watch u r an adult.” 🙂

  10. I saw that movie in the theater and then I thought it was not very bad .. 🙂 After my son came along getting to a theater to watch a movie has become such a rare event that any movie would be awesome for me ha ha

  11. Now I am inspired enough to watch JTHJ 🙂

  12. Interesting experience. But you don’t have to be a kid to do it though. Even with friends, boring movies can become fun when you sit together and start mocking the movie, Though of course we do it purposely and kids do it innocently.

    • Very right, TF! I remember having laughter fits when watching Titanic for the second time in the theatre with another friend. We started finding insane things to laugh at. And that is why watching movies with like-minded friends is such a treat. Can be done better at home so that others are not disturbed.

  13. The “Why Machine” in action! Delightful, given the circumstances and the movie you were watching. They can crank out the whys without pause can’t they. Once they tire of it, they switch to How

    • True Ritu! The younger one is a non-stop questioner. He goes on and on and despite our fervent pleas sometimes, just does not stop :). But, it can be fun too because his observations can be so hilarious or spot on.

  14. LOL….can’t stop laughing….my god….our question bank is back and we are already bombarded :P..I have written a post like in my initial days when I watched a movie with these both and god, the kind of questions Rushi ask…you know it better 🙂

  15. I watched JTH on Diwali night because I was feeling terribly homesick. I think they forgot to edit that damn movie.

  16. I just realized that as we grow up, the natural tendency to question is slowly taken away from us. Parents shush us up, teachers shush us up, at work we get branded as disruptors, and the government anyway is in no mood to listen. So somewhere along the line, we learn to stuff our questions and just go along with the herd. The best part is that we don’t even realize it till it starts hurting too much. If there is one reason we are in the mess we are (which is a good thing since it means there is a way out) it probably is our reluctance to question. If only we could question everything that we do in our daily lives and ask why.

    • Very true! Ah the innocence and curiosity that only kids have these days and very young kids at that. Somehow, the overload of gadgets is also stifling curiosity for kids.

  17. I didn’t have the patience to watch that movie on fast forward. Crappy can’t get crappier than that. Really! You must have hugged Gautam for making it bearable – and even interesting. Your boy really has a point – that coffee could have hurt someone! 😀

  18. Ha! A new definition for movies children cannot watch – any movie that is interesting to the adult and not merely for its ‘adult’ content 🙂

    Well! i watch these absolutely irritating movies because they ensure that I can enjoy even the mediocre movies better – they shine in comparison. For you, your children provide all the fun even with these ones 🙂

    • I hardly watch movies these days, Suresh :). It is a rare occasion when I make time. But I do agree that watching some of these no-brainers really makes you appreciate the mediocre stuff too. Besides, it is fun how a child deciphers a situation. You would not believe that when I watched English Vinglish in the theatre with both kids; they were surprisingly very quiet and absorbed in the movie.

  19. He loves ‘Master chef’, Great!

    I can visualize you viewing a movie with Gautham! My son used to be like yours…we used to call him ‘yein, yedukku’ (Why, what for is the rough translation!’ I have recorded ‘jab tak hai jaan’! So, it is not worth watching, eh?!

    I remember my niece asking a question after looking at a scantily clad Bipasha Basu ‘oru dupatta pottukka maattaalo’! ‘Can’t she wear a dupatta?!’

    • hehe Sandhya! Watch the movie at your own risk, I’d say! The storyline is really stupid but since you’ve recorded it, have a go at it and see for yourself :).

  20. You watched a harmless movie with the son who aked you just the right questions! May be he will learn what life is all about from a leaned mother like you soon:) After all the best lessons in life are learnt in an entertaining way!!

  21. How I wish these filmakers show their film screenings to the kids!! 🙂

  22. Kids ask the right questions that we adults cannot always answer satisfactorily.it is sometimes embarrassing too to watch films with tiny kids.Cartoons are the safest.

  23. Thankfully with Gautam’s hilarious observations, you could watch that movie. I watched it too and it was beyond my belief that Yash Chopra made it.

  24. Serves you right for torturing yourself with that movie! 😛 How could you? I tried watching it and could not go beyond the first 30 minutes. SRK is unbelievably intolerable now.
    I think the questions were more interesting than the movie. I too observe these kind of small details in the movies. 🙂

    • 🙂 Yeah, I do crazy things at times. I remember howling my way through Titanic with a friend. We could spot all kinds of details in the movie :). SRK is intolerable and the script sucked. Yash Chopra really needed to stop making movies.

  25. I loved that movie purely for this review. I think that movie was God sent, else this review would never have materialized :

    http://mumbaiboss.com/2012/11/15/the-vigil-idiot-jab-tak-hai-jaan/

    fc*klove

  26. Kids! It is really nice to watch them get inquisitive and their compelling nature, wanting every single query answered. Though I am not sure if I would enjoy answering their questions, it is kind of cute 🙂

    • hehe The tricky part is in the answers. And let me tell you, kids these days are very smart and they don’t take just about anything for an answer :).

  27. I certainly would love a commentary like that, Rachna. Can I borrow Gautam sometimes? 🙂

  28. insignia on April 29, 2013 at 6:37 pm said:

    I hope they make sensible and logical movies 🙂 or else, parents will have tough time brining logic before responding to children’s questions

  29. Uncle and Aunty have to learn manners from Gautam, LOL!

    Seriously, I wish I can watch a movie with him. I bet, Gautam can make even a boring movie entertaining. Tell him, someone wants his company and she will bring cool Iron-Man gears for him. 🙂

    • hehe He is so much gun but very shy with strangers. Iron man gear will be the perfect ice breaker ;-). I wish you lived closeby and we could have caught one together.

  30. 🙂 it is fun to watch movies with kids. I am amazed by his observations.

  31. hahhahah!! Big A also used to question me a lot…until I threaten him of dire consequences!

  32. I for one have never watched any movie of SRK nor will I ever do.
    However,certain questions by the kids can put one in a fix

  33. :D. Hehee! those questions!
    But yeah, they can be very amusing at times.

  34. Pingback: The Big Screen movie watching experience - Rachna Says

Do not leave without commenting. I love a good conversation :).

Post Navigation