Every actor’s biggest need is to know what exactly their audience thinks of their films. While reading reviews might be the most normal thing to do, actors these days, for maximum dosti with their viewers, visit theatres along with them, to gauge a proper reaction and understand what exactly they want to see. It is the talk of town that Shahid Kapoor and Prabhu Deva visited a single screen cinema hall after the release of 'R… Rajkumar' and so did Manyata Dutt for the screening of 'Policegiri'. However, she clarifies that she was there only to see what the audience thought of her husband’s movie. Her reasons? Well since Sanjay was serving time in jail, his wife wanted to let him know the response for his movie through letters.
Adhyayan Suman, who debuted in Bollywood with 'Haal-e-dil', says, “I believe what really counts is the fact that the people who pay and watch your movie need to like it. It’s great to go to the theatre and see the reaction of the audience live. My new movie 'Heartless' is releasing next week and I will surely go watch it to see the reactions.” Incidentally, the crew of the recently released Telugu flick, 'Second Hand', did the rounds of small theatres in Hyderabad last week to see audience reactions. “It’s amazing to watch people saying lines or singing songs from the film. You’ll know what’s working and what’s not, scene by scene. Getting a mass response from the audience, in the form of whistles, howls and laughter is the best review an actor could ask for. It kind of gives you a high,” says Bengaluru-based actor Dhanya Balakrishna, the lead actor of the film.
Also, actors believe that it’s the most honest review they receive. “While at premiere shows with others from the film fraternity, you only hear ‘It’s a really good movie’ no matter what they think of the film, at local theatres you either get to hear whistles or you get booed. You see, acting is a personal thing for me; I’m very picky about the scripts. But watching movies is a mass thing and the best way to do it, is at local, single-screen cinema halls,” says Sandalwood actor Rakshit Shetty, who is well-known for maintaining close ties with his viewers.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows while they’re at it. A few actors do get nervous about watching their audience react. Nicole Faria, who is awaiting the release of her debut film, 'Yaariyan', says visiting a theatre with the audience is on the agenda this month. “Even while shooting, it’s interesting to see how other actors on the set react. Now we’re going to release the film to the general public and I’m sure I’ll be pretty nervous watching people’s expressions during my scenes,” says the actress.
But for controversial director Qaushiq Mukherjee (Q), it’s all about counting the number of people he has made uncomfortable with his films. “Bollywood is all about telling people what they should want. It’s a self-proclaimed platform to motivate a positive public reaction. But I don’t exactly look for a positive reaction in the audience. I want to strike a conversation with them and make them confront what they are not comfortable with. So at the screening of 'Gandu', what gave me a measure of what people thought was counting the number of people walking out,” he laughs.
