Watching a movie in Madurai

Most adults I knew went to movies three or four times a month (in a survey I administered, 92 percent of respondents reported attending films, and of these 63 percent went at least three times per month). Generally, the occasion is conceived of as “seeing a movie” – that is, people are willing to see any movie that is worth seeing (and to most people, this means almost any film), and do not think of it as a chance to see a particular chosen film. When a family or group of friends has made plans to go to a movie, they may change their minds several times about just which film they intend to see, but the plan to go is rarely cancelled. There are exceptions to this, especially among people who see only a few films of a specific type – older people, for example, who restrict their viewing to religious films, or children whose parents accept only an occasional movie as suitable for children's viewing.

No matter how often a person goes to films, the decision to attend a certain one is usually made by listening to the reports of others who have seen it, or who know someone else who has. Decisions may also be made exclusively on the basis of subject matter (especially movies about deities), the actors or actresses, or songs. People almost never consult reviews in newspapers or magazines, relying instead on the opinions of acquaintances.