https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfO-6RP7mko
Indian cinema chain sued by film-goer over lengthy pre-film ads
Court orders compensation to be paid to
30-year-old from Bangalore, saying ‘in the new era, time is considered as
money, each one’s time is very precious’
Hannah
Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
Wed 26
Feb 2025 05.13 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/india-pvr-inox-cinema-chain-fine-preview-ads
Abhishek MR, a 30-year-old man from the southern city of Bangalore, had booked a trip to the cinema with friends in December last year to watch wartime drama Sam Bahadur.
But while the scheduled time he had booked the ticket for was 4.05pm, he had to sit through 25 minutes of adverts for upcoming features and commercial items such as homewares, mobile phones and cars before the film actually began.
Having planned to return to work straight after the film, Abhishek MR was angered by what he felt was a costly disruption to his life. He filed a lawsuit against PVR Inox, India’s largest cinema multiplex chain, stating that: “The complainant could not attend other arrangements and appointments which were scheduled for the day and has faced losses that cannot be calculated in terms of money as compensation.”
The lawsuit also accused multiplex cinemas of prioritising advertising revenue over their customers, and forcing them to sit through adverts against their will.
In a ruling in February, the consumer court proved highly sympathetic to Abhishek MR’s case and ordered for the cinema to grant him 50,000 INR (£450) for wasting his time and 5,000 INR (£45) for mental agony, as well as cover his legal expenses.
“In the new era, time is considered as money, each one’s time is very precious,” the court ruling stated. “Twenty-five to 30 minutes is a considerable amount of time to sit idle in the theatre and watch unnecessary ads. People with tight schedules do not have time to waste.”
The cinema had defended itself, arguing it was legally required to show public service announcements. However, it was found that most of the adverts shown before the film had been commercial.
Cinema is seen as a highly effective medium for advertising in India, and its share of the advertising sector is on the rise. Unlike western cinemas, in India, adverts are shown both before the film and during a 15-minute ad break in the middle of the feature.
Task 1. Comment on the
title of the article.
Task 2. Read and translate
the article paying attention to the words and phrases in bold.
Task 3. Find the English equivalents of the following words and phrases:
1) быть юридически обязательным
2) рекламная пауза
3) идти в гору/повышаться, улучшаться
4) суд по защите прав потребителей
5) покрывать юридические расходы
6) судебный процесс по обвинению
7) подать иск против
8) терпеть убытки
9) годовой доход
Task 4. Make up some sentences of your own with the words and
phrases in bold.
Task 5. Act out a dialogue
using the new vocabulary.
Task 6. Read the article a
second time and be ready to discuss in the classroom:
- what was the author’s intention to
tell the general public about
- what is the main idea/ problem raised
- speak on the logical devision
Answer the following
questions:
1.
What was the main reason Abhishek MR decided to file a lawsuit against PVR
Inox?
2.
How long did Abhishek MR have to sit through adverts before the film started?
3.
What compensation did the consumer court award Abhishek MR for his time and
mental agony?
4.
What argument did the cinema chain use to defend their practice of showing
adverts?
5.
How does the advertising practice in Indian cinemas differ from that in Western
cinemas?
Task 7. Write a rendering of the article. Mind the rules of a rendering writing. (second lesson)
London’s first Roman basilica found under office block
Archaeologists hail discovery of near-2,000-year-old remains as among
most significant recent finds in the city
Esther Addley
Thu 13 Feb
2025 14.22 GMT
The remains of London’s earliest Roman basilica have been discovered
under an office block, in what archaeologists have described as one of the most
significant recent discoveries in the capital.
The almost 2,000-year-old structure was part of the forum, the Roman
capital’s social and administrative centre, and built around the late 70s or
early 80s CE, just a few decades after the Romans invaded Britain and 20 years after Boudicca sacked and burned the city in 60CE.
Situated on a high point in the city on a raised platform, the forum was a large open space about
the size of a football pitch, lined with shops and other buildings. The
basilica, at its heart, functioned as a kind of town hall, in which important political and judicial decisions were made.
Intriguingly, archaeologists
believe the excavated section
contains the tribunal, a designated part of the basilica where important
officials would have sat on a raised stage to
adjudicate on the main issues affecting the capital of the new Roman
outpost.
The structure was short-lived, however, being replaced in about AD100 by
a much bigger forum built on the same site.
Describing the find as “one
of the most significant discoveries made in the city in recent years”, Sophie
Jackson, the director of development at Mola, the Museum of London Archaeology,
said: “It’s like discovering the speaker’s chair and chamber of the House of
Commons, 2,000 years into the future. The levels of preservation of the
basilica have far exceeded our expectations, and we have possibly the most
important part of the building.
“Excitingly, we’ve only just scratched the surface of this site’s
potential through our initial investigations.”
The remains were discovered in 2023 as part of the redevelopment of an office building at 85 Gracechurch Street, next to the entrance to the historic Leadenhall market at the heart of the City of London.
Task 1. Comment on the
title of the article.
Task 2. Read and
translate the article paying attention to the words and phrases in bold.
Task 3. Find the English equivalents of the following words and phrases.
1)
разграбить и сжечь город
2) вторгаться в
3) зал для заседаний
4) археолог
5) находка
6) перепланировка
7) выносить решения по основным
вопросам
8) руины
9) принимать политические и судебные
решения
10) Римская базилика
11) раскопанный участок
Task 4. Make up some sentences of your own with the words and
phrases in bold.
Task 5. Act out a
dialogue using the new vocabulary.
Task 6. Read the
article a second time and be ready to discuss in the classroom:
-
what was the author’s intention to tell the general
public about
-
what is the main idea/ problem raised
-
speak on the logical devision
Task 7. Write a
rendering of the article. Mind the
rules of a rendering writing. (second lesson)
