LAST week I went to ‘hear’ a movie. It was a historic occasion in India — a special screening of the film Awesome Mausam for the blind, (OK, visually impaired), with audio description. An ordinary movie, that otherwise may have passed largely unnoticed, suddenly became a revelation. About 40 blind people were invited to the first week screening. The sighted were encouraged to wear ‘eye masks’ to experience the film as the blind do. Director Yogesh Bharadwaj did a "live audio description" of the film, simultaneously describing in words, the scenes and songs that were not conveyed through the dialogue, so that the blind could follow the visual narrative as well. "At last we can laugh at the same time as the others," said an audience member. "Otherwise, we always have to request the person next to us to describe what was funny, and we always laugh last."

Actor Rahul Sharma (centre) with the visually-impaired audience that was invited for the screening of Awesome Mausum. Pic/Meenakshi Shedde