Delhi, stop bringing your kids to A-rated films!

'Do not bring kids for ‘A’ certified movies,’ says a board at a

cinema

hall in the city, at another multiplex’s entrance, a panel displays the certificates of movies running in its audis, and at the entrance of almost every multiplex, ushers urge parents to not take their kids for ‘A’ rated film. However, it seems that nothing can stop Delhiites from taking their children to see the film of their choice, even if it is ‘A’ rated. Delhi’s daredevil parents consider it a victory when they win an argument with ushers on why their kids should be allowed to watch an ‘A’ rated film. And the reason range from ‘mera bachha so jayega’ to ‘usko samajh nahi aayega’, and some parents even daring ushers, “Itni pareshani hai toh tum rakh lo!”
Tired of hearing the same excuses, the ushers have to allow kids to these movies, and say that sometimes they don’t even bother to stop the parents. They add that they shouldn’t be playing the role of parents, but for parents in Delhi, every movie outing is a family affair, despite its rating.

Parents consider it a victory when they win an argument with ushers

‘Dear parents, we feel embarrassed, why don’t you?’ Ask Moviegoers
Last Friday, when '

Veere Di Wedding

' hit the theatres, some cinema halls in NCR decided to put up boards at ticket counters, requesting parents to not bring kids along for the ‘A’ rated movie.
This also happened to be a week when three ‘A’ rated films ('

Phamous

', '

Deadpool

2', 'Veere Di Wedding') were running in cinemas. An ‘A’ rating means that nobody below the age of 18 can go for the movie. However, parents argued, picked fights, and managed to take their kids inside the audi. Though the parents didn’t seem to mind their kids’ presence for the movies, other moviegoers did. They say that while toddlers kept crying throughout the films, younger inquisitive minds wanted their parents to explain to them what a particular abuse meant.

Usha Deran, a homemaker, says, “Most kids have this habit of asking questions at the wrong moment. And in a silent cinema hall, you are forced to listen to that conversation. And if you get a seat next to a couple with kids, then your movie is ruined, as they spend most of the movie arguing who will take the wailing kid out. Most parents keep shushing their kids, or explaining why he/she should not disturb others, but parents, that’s something you need to realise, not your kid!”

“What good is the rating unless it is enforced?’’ asks Ridhima Gupta, a college student. “I have seen kids in almost every ‘A’ rated film. Others in the audience feel embarrassed, but not the parents. I think the theatre has no obligation to moral police parents. If parents know that it’s an ‘A’ rated film and still bring their kids, what can ushers do?” she adds.

Navratan Dutta, 30, who works in a mall, says, “Last week, when I went to watch a movie, there were couples with kids sitting on both sides of my seat. And it was an ‘A’ rated film. I had to ask the usher to change my seats. My new seat was in the front row, but at least there were no kids around. I have complained to cinema managers and ushers several times, but they only express helplessness.”

Ushers: Parents woh hain ya hum?
Ushers say that they ask parents not to bring their kids for ‘A’ rated movies, but they have to ultimately give up after parents start arguing with them. An usher at a multiplex in Delhi tells us, “If it’s an ‘A’ rated movie, we politely tell our patrons that it’s an adult movie in order to ensure that they are informed. And mostly, the response we get is, ‘I know’. If parents are happily taking their kids to watch violence, objectionable scenes and listen to abuses, what are we supposed to do? Parents woh hain ya hum?”

An usher at another Delhi hall adds, “When we stop moviegoers at the entrance and ask them to not take their kids along for ‘A’ rated movies, they start arguing with us – ‘Yeh naya rule hai kya? Ticket ka paisa return karoge?’ Sometimes they ask us to exchange their tickets for an U/A rated movie.”
An usher at a multiplex in Gurgaon tells us, “When we stop parents at the entrance and tell them that it’s an adult movie, they say that they don’t want to expose their kids to questionable content, but add that the children won’t be able to understand the film.”
Another usher at a cinema hall in Gurgaon adds, “People don’t understand that there’s a difference between U and U/A, and give excuses like ‘the trailer looked okay to me’, ‘I don’t think there will be objectionable content’. Some patrons even start fighting that if we will not allow them inside the cinema hall, they will post it on social media or blog about the issue and give us low ratings.”

An usher at a multiplex in Noida says, “We have huge screens near the ticket counters displaying the ratings of movies. But moviegoers rarely see that. We can’t ask every person if they have a kid with them, and if they are above 18. Recently, when I pointed out to a couple that 'Deadpool 2' is an ‘A’ rated movie, they asked their 12-year-old son, ‘Why did you ask us to bring you for this movie?’ And then they turned to me and said, ‘We have already spent 1k for tickets, so we’ll go for it’.” He adds, “Whenever there is an ‘A’ rated film, implementation becomes impossible, and we often have to allow parents to go for the movie with their kids. For 'Veere Di Wedding,' almost every other couple had come with their kids.”

Most multiplexes in the city have screens near ticket counters that display moive ratings. But moviegoers rarely notice that. A cinema manager at a multiplex in Gurgaon says, “The situation is worse during weekends and parents come with their kids without even realising that it’s an ‘A’ rated film. However, we have never had this problem with the expats living in the city. I don’t remember stopping any expats for 'Deadpool 2,' but had to stop many Indian parents, who went for the movie anyway.” Ushers say that for 'Veere Di Wedding,' almost every other couple was came with kids, and even after several requests, they took their kid for the film.

Another usher at a cinema hall in Gurgaon adds, “Most parents have the same excuse, ‘Weekend hai’, ‘Vacation hai’, ‘No place to leave our kid.’ Some rude parents even asked me, ‘Aap rakhenge toh aapke paas chhor doon?’”

My kid is naive, won’t be influenced by ‘A’ rated films: Parents
Ushers tells us that when they point out to parents that the film is ‘A’ rated, most of them give the excuse that their kid is too young to understand anything in the movie.
Nausheen Khan, who recently went to watch an ‘A’ rated film with her seven-year-old son in Noida, says, “We knew it was an ‘A’ rated film, but summer vacations are going on, so where would I leave my son? I wanted to watch the movie so I had to take him along. I knew that my son would fall asleep within 20 minutes.”

RK Chatterjee, who went for an ‘A’ rated movie with his two daughters aged two and four, says, “I brought my daughters along because we had planned a family movie outing. My daughters are too young to get influenced by the language of the film, and they were jumping on their seats during the songs, they only understood that part.”

AK Hooda, who lives in Sector 16, recently went to watch an ‘A’ rated film with his 5-year-old kid. He says, “I took my son for that movie because we wanted to watch the film. After we bought the tickets, an usher asked us to not take our son along. Why did they sell those tickets when they didn’t want to allow a kid? I told them either exchange all the tickets or I will take him along. Finally, he allowed us to enter. We don’t have any place to leave our kid, so we have to take him along.”

Another moviegoer, Kavita Kumari, who lives in Sikanderpur says, “My daughter is 2-years-old, so how does it matter if she goes for an ‘A’ rated film? Should I wait till the movie is screened on TV or find a babysitter first? Also, I always take my daughter for movies and not once I was stopped. So exhibitors should stop randomly implementing such rules”