1960 Mumbai, India
Prabhakar Lavakare
Born 1938
Mumbai, India
Interviewed February 8, 2024
by: Madhav Lavakare
What is the first movie you remember seeing?
Something I must’ve seen many times, but it really struck me – and I look for it again and again – this movie by Alfred Hitchcock called Psycho. Anthony Perkins.
And how old were you when you first saw Psycho?
I must have been around 20, 25 years old – somewhere around there.
Oh, so you never saw movies before that?
I definitely did, but I don’t remember anything! They were more related to the comedians – for example, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers – these were the movies I remembered, but I don’t remember the stories. They weren’t really stories, but more just characters just playing around and making humorous quips. Not really slapstick, but just humorous. The characters were really funny. Abbott and Lou Costello were super fun as well – but more fun, just for laughs, nothing really serious.
What did you like about those early comedies you saw?
It was a good pastime and I enjoyed the sense of humor. I enjoyed the tussle between the three Marx brothers – Groucho, Chico and Harpo. Each one of them had a different personality and they would just be talking to each other – but as I said, I never remembered the story, I just remember the characters. That must have between the age of 15 to 20. That was when I started watching movies, particularly English movies.
What do you remember about Psycho?
The one thing I remember loving about Hitchcock films is that there was always a scene where Alfred Hitchcock himself would be in the film. It was like an easter egg, and we would always try and spot him in the movie. But with Psycho, I don’t remember identifying such a scene. Very often he would come as a passenger waiting for a bus, or someone waiting in the hotel – things like that, a passing feature. And everyone would shout – Alfred Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock! That was one of the fun parts of his movies. Apart from that, the adventure and suspense was always extremely enjoyable.
What did you think of the character(s), actor(s), story in Hitchcock movies (and Psycho)?
I like every movie of Alfred Hitchcock. In each movie, I’d be very engaged in the suspense – not “terror” – but some kind of “detective” narrative. For example, Psycho is a story about a young man who is a psychologically disturbed person and has a dual personality. He always acted like his mother. It’s basically a story about a young psycho. And the whole story was about a murder. Everybody thinks his mother is dead, but he doesn’t believe it – and he acted like his mother. If someone asked to speak to his mother, he would imitate her. He had kept some kind of a doll in a chair and he would use that as his mother – he had lost his mother but never wanted to accept that. And that’s why he had a split personality – and then he got involved in a murder. I remember that his house was like a haunted house – a hotel-cum-house. And when this lady comes to his house, he gets attracted to her, but in a negative way, and he kills her in the shower. I remember that scene very well – it struck me. Of course finally, he gets exposed and he’s taken to prison. And I remember the final scene sitting in a chair in the prison and he’s talking to himself and you don’t know what he’s talking about. Which means he’s really a psycho case. He never gets detached from his mother.
What did you think of the acting in the movie?
Oh, Anthony Perkins was fabulous. That’s the only character you really remember from the film. You don’t remember anyone else. Everyone else is just a side character, they are just passing by in the background. Anthony Perkins really stole the show in this one.
Who did you watch the film with?
Oh, I went with my younger brother. We used to go out for English movies together. The English movies were always shown as a morning show. The theaters used to show Hindi movies most of the time, but the morning shows were English. It was usually on Sunday mornings. And me and my brother used to love English movies, so we used to have these excursions with my brother for the morning shows.
How did you get to the theater/venue? Was it walking distance?
No, there was always a public bus and we used to get into that. The theatre was in Tardeo.
Do you remember the name of the theater?
No, not really. Wait, perhaps it was called Diana.
Was there a concession? Did you get any snacks?
No, nothing like that. The theaters in Mumbai never had any food stalls or concession stands inside. Food was a luxury at that time. You couldn’t even get popcorn. It was just the movie. Nothing else. Snacks were beyond our imagination. You couldn’t even afford it. You never even wished you had any snacks.
(I found the theater on Google while talking to him) Was the theater called “Diana Talkies” in Tardeo?
Oh, yes! That was it. Diana Talkies in Tardeo! Can’t believe I actually remembered that. It used to be so cheap. We used to sit at the back because the front was a bit more expensive. At that time, we used to pay in Annas, not Rupees. One Rupee was 16 Annas, and we used to pay 10 and a half Annas for a ticket. Annas were just in Mumbai. We used to pay with coins. Things were simpler then.
Note from the interviewer: Prabhakar Lavakare is my paternal grandfather.
