I’m not sure how people decided what film to see before we lived in times of marketing blitzkrieg. Once upon a time, you just received whatever came on Doordarshan — magical discovery or hopeless tedium depended on your luck. Film trailers and new songs were not allowed on TV because a government channel wasn’t going to promote private commercial ventures. Whatever the mechanism for figuring it out, one thing was indubitable: Doordarshan was what was supposedly good for you, so it was compulsory and everything else was what felt real good, so it was choice.

Illustration/ Amit Bandre