Arif Amaani always thought he’d be a professional soccer player.
Born in Bangladesh, he immigrated to the U.S. when he was 13. He attended the University of Washington and Seattle University, playing on their soccer teams. But things changed about a decade ago, when he was nudged toward a business opportunity at the Totem Lake Malls. The large open space there, a friend told him, would be a great place to show films.
“One thing led to another,” Amaani said, and he soon began his own theater company.
But as the owner of Totem Lake Cinemas, a three-screen theater showing only Bollywood films, Amaani realizes that a night at the movies isn’t quite what it used to be.
“People’s interest in films is changing,” Amaani said. “With DVDs and so many other things, people have so many options. But this theater has stayed the same.”
Only a handful of stores remain in the once-bustling shopping center that took root here in the 1970s.
And the local movie business has taken a substantial hit in the recession: several independent theaters have shuttered their doors around Seattle.
Yet Totem Lake Cinemas has benefited from the simple economics of supply and demand. It’s the only theater in the greater Seattle area that’s all Bollywood: cinema from Mumbai, India, rich with song and dance, flashy costumes and elaborate plots spanning hours (and sometimes several generations of characters).
“With Bollywood films, everyone can watch almost every film,” Amaani said. “It’s love, romance, family, drama. It shows friendship and relationships between families and friends. I think that’s a little different from Hollywood films.”
The theater looks a lot like any cinema showing English-language films. Movie posters and twinkling lights line the lobby, and laughter echoes from inside the auditoriums. The snack menu has some slight variation — they serve samosas and pakoras, fried Indian pastries and vegetables — and all the films are subtitled in English. But what truly sets this theater apart is the sense of community it’s built for the Eastside’s growing Indian population.
“It’s kind of a gathering place for people to come,” Amaani said. “The films touch their heart and they’re in touch with their own country. When you’re watching it, you’re pretty much watching your home.”
Pratik Keni, who grew up on the Eastside, compared the experience at this theater to watching Bollywood movies when in Mumbai, India.
“The last time I went (to Totem Lake Cinemas), the theater was packed, with mostly Indian people in attendance,” Keni said. “People cheered when the big film stars made their appearance on screen and occasionally made funny comments during different scenes.”
Some of the films’ messages transcend culture. Amaani pointed to 2009’s blockbuster, “3 Idiots,” as an example. The movie follows three college friends who take different tracks in their lives than the ones their parents planned for them, encountering both humorous and tragic obstacles along the way. It’s currently the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in India.
“It’s a beautiful film. It explains how everyone is under pressure, especially in foreign countries, to do well in school,” Amaani said. “(The story) tries to teach everybody not to learn things because you’re pressured. Do things because you’re learning and you enjoy it.”
Amaani said a film like “3 Idiots” “will probably touch any culture.”
Amaani lives in Seward Park and also operates Belltown’s King Cat Theater, a live-performance venue that hosts a mix of Eastern and Western entertainment. But the Totem Lake Cinemas will always offer something unique to its audience.
“The thing that drives me is watching people and their expressions, and giving them something that makes them happy,” he said. “That’s why I do this.”
More information: visit Roxy Cinema
