Akshay and Sudarshan finished their Class XI exams yesterday. Once they got that out of the way, they set out looking for tickets for Aishwarya Dhanush's ‘3'.
“We took a friend's bike and checked out theatres for tickets. It was ‘house full' everywhere. Finally, we managed this,” says Akshay triumphantly, holding his prized ticket in hand.
His gang of friends is watching the movie in Central Theatre, which resonates with the expectations of nearly a thousand youth.
There's something about a first day, first show. The hoots, the whistles, the shrieks, and the sheer surge of adrenaline.
And when that film is the much-awaited Kolaveri-fame ‘3', you can expect all these and more.
When the titles roll, the hooting just gets louder.
After the first scene, the boys look shell-shocked, but recover soon enough to cheer a lanky school-boy Dhanush as he goes about wooing Shruti Haasan, who looks charming in her scrubbed-clean look.
“This is so worth it. She looks so pretty,” says Gowhika, another school student. She is all excited - this is her maiden first day, first show film, that too with friends. “We're having a great time together,” she adds.
Samrudha, her friend, is here for the Kolaveri experience.
“I'm waiting to see how the song has been picturised,” she says.
As for Sudarshan, he's waiting for the scenes featuring Sivakarthikeyan. “I'm a huge fan him,” he smiles.
Elsewhere, some girls sigh when they see Dhanush and Shruti romance on screen. The actor is hot on their list of favourites, no doubt.
Post-interval, the popcorn comes out and the kids speak to each other in whispers, wondering how the story will progress.
“Will there be a villain?” wonders one. “Dei, why is Shruti crying so much?” asks another. They boo when the tears start to get a little too frequent.
But, somewhere they seem to connect with the ambitious parents, the understanding ones, poor marks, tuition classes, cycle rides to school and friends who'll give their lives for you.
Once the end credits roll, the audience moves out in a file, only to be accosted by total strangers wanting to know how the film is.
At the ticket counter hangs a huge ‘House Full' board.
Disappointed fans look on with yearning at the lucky ones who managed tickets.
It's time for yet another show.
