1961 New Delhi India

Anita Bansal
1953
New Delhi, India
Interviewed on February 8th 2025
by Sanjana Mittal

What is the first movie you remember seeing? 

I remember clearly it was Kabuliwala, and I saw it on a class trip with my school, altogether I went to an all girls school at that time and it was a trip with the teachers and all the students in my class to the theatre. We went on a school bus together till the theatre and even inside we all sat together. It was my first time seeing a movie at all, as we did not have TVs at that time in India, and even after that it was very rare to go to the movie theatre at all, it was a special occasion. This first time was also special as it was one of the few times I went to the theatre with friends and school teachers, otherwise it was always an outing with family as you would not be allowed to go as kids alone. I think only when I was 17-18 years old did I started going more regularly, and even by that I mean around 4 times a year, it was still a rare outing.

How old were you (approximately)?

I was 8 years old at this time, I remember because I remember what class I was in then.

What do you remember about the movie?

It was a very touching story, about a Kabuliwala and his relationship with a young girl Mini, where he was a poor man from Afghanistan in India (which is why he is called Kabuliwala) and how he developed a friendship and affection for this young girl Mini because she reminded him of his own daughter. It was a very sweet movie, and generally I remember it got very emotional at the end because Mini grows up, and how fatherly affection has to deal with that also. The story was based on a Rabindranath Tagore story of the same name as well, which I think is a famous story again about a worker from Kabuul coming to India and forming affection for a young girl. 

Was it a movie aimed at children specifically? Or rather, why do you think your school organized a trip to watch this movie in particular?

I don’t think anything in particular, it was not related to our school curriculum or anything like that, but it was generally a very sweet movie and it was about a little girl herself, the character Mini, so the whole movie was was little bit centered on a child’s friendship with this Afghan figure, and it was simple and sweet. Maybe because it was adapted from Tagore it was a little more educational?

What did you think of the character(s), actor(s), story?

I said a little bit already but it was a simple black and white movie, I think color films only came to India in the later 60s and 70s, so this was very simple, and the songs were also very simple and innocent, not like Bollywood today where everything is overwhelming and so loud. This had no special effects or action scenes and focused on telling the story, keeping it emotional and focused

Who was with you?

My classmates and teachers I think, that was it, I don’t remember if there were many other people outside of our school trip there in the rest of the theatre or not, I don’t know.

How did you get to the theater/venue? 

It was a building on its own, so we drove there from our school in a school bus, with our teachers guiding us and walking from place to place. It was not very close to our school so that is why we had to take a bus and it was a full day school trip.

Was there a concession? Did you have a favorite candy?

There was no food culture in cinemas back then, we did not really eat anything there, they did not sell food at the theatre or near it either. I can’t remember if food was banned or you were not allowed specifically, but I know in general the food culture that exists with cinemas now was not something we had at that time.

Do you remember the name of the theater? Were there ushers? 

No, I don’t remember the name of the theatre but I remember it was a very simple and old theatre, it had existed for a long time before our visit, and theatres in India were not very fancy or decorative. I remember as children watching we could see just darkness and the rays of light coming from behind, and nothing else about how it was behind the scenes. Ushers… yes there was staff but mainly just someone at the front to check that you had tickets, there was nobody inside the theatre hall itself to check seats, because there were no set seats, you could sit anywhere inside.

What town and year was this? 

This was a theatre in Purani Delhi, in 1961, so the town is still Old Delhi I guess, but still just mainly Delhi explains it I think.  

Anita Bansal is my dear grandmother, who has grown up and lived in New Delhi, India all her life. Her fondness for cinema has remained a constant in my conception of her love, warmth and vibrancy. It was a fantastic experience to probe deeper into her memories surrounding it.