I ts shelves are being emptied into cardboard boxes. A renovation? Unfortunately not. A melancholic finality settles into the now-vacant space, as the last box is unceremoniously taped shut and carried out.
After 33 years of lending movies to the city, iconic Tic Tac Movie Rentals, the last of its kind, shut down last week, marking the end of an era.
Tic Tac was a city landmark, even at a time when every neighbourhood had a clutch of video lending libraries. Many of the city’s movie memories are attributed to this library, which shapes an entire generation’s home entertainment.
I meet proprietor S. Prakash Kumar, known as Ken Zo to the regulars, on the store’s last day. Friends, loyalists and movie buffs walk around, picking up the titles, all being sold at rental rates. “A regular at the store has offered to pick up the entire lot,” he says, with the resigned air of a man taking life one day at a time.
Pulling the plug on Tic Tac came as a shock to many in the city. Social media posts of people reminiscing about the time they spent lingering over titles put the store back on the charts, but this time for a different reason.
The city was bidding farewell to a place that unexpectedly connected so many lives. And in doing so, was also bidding farewell to an entire age of printed photographs, mix tapes and clunky whirring VHS (Video Home System) cassettes.
Opened on December 15, 1983, Tic Tac Video and Audio, as it was then called, had a collection of just 72 VHS tapes.
Started by Prakash’s brother Suresh Kumar and uncle Chandra Kumar, it was then the lone store on the street, now packed with shops.
Prakash admits he’s taken aback by the response he has been receiving ever since he announced the closing.
“I tried to keep it very low-key, since it is a very emotional thing for me and my family. When word spread and old-timers came in to express their disbelief and disappointment, that’s when the full impact of it hit me,” says Prakash. He adds that letting go is not easy, but it has to be done. Prakash had been toying with the idea for the past few years, as business began to take blow after blow. “That’s the thing about technology. We have to move with the flow, if we don’t want to be left behind.”
When the library launched, this city was still called Madras and home entertainment meant gathering around television sets to catch the popular Oliyum Olliyum show, broadcast every Friday at 7.30 p.m.
The idea of watching a movie outside of a theatre was a rarity. Tic Tac, and the concept of a video lending library, was welcomed enthusiastically. As they sprung up across the city, Tic Tac took on its competitors by expanding rapidly.
In 12 years, the store grew to house a collection of 35,000 tapes. (Admittedly, it helped that this was also a time when regulations and copyrights were a lot less stringent.)
The library quickly became a hub for celebrity-spotting. Kamal Haasan, Sarika, Sridevi, Aishwarya and Soundarya Rajinikanth, P.C. Sreeram, Mani Ratnam and Yesudas were all regulars. “Up until a few weeks ago, Rajini sir was borrowing DVDs,” says Prakash, adding “He had a thing for old English classics. He borrowed the entire Rocky series.”
Tic Tac, and video stores in general, were at their zenith in the 90s. Prakash says people thronged his store during the holidays. And if a State bandh was declared, there’d be complete chaos inside the store the day before. “We’ve had to bring down the shutters to keep the crowd under control,” he chuckles, adding “at the end of the day, we’d look ransacked”. This was also a time when it made sense to be flamboyant with advertising, given the competition. “Tic Tac had some of the most creative advertisements put up around the city. Sharad Haksar was a friend and he came up with some brilliant ideas. There was a time when people used to eagerly anticipate our hoardings on St. Mary’s Road,” says Prakash.
Things changed quickly. He recalls his first experience with laser discs when they made a transition from VHS to LD in 1995. “I can still vividly recall the first movie that I saw on an LD — Jurassic Park . It was mind-blowing with 5.1 surround sound,” he says. Prakash states that LD was the best technology at that time, since it could not be easily pirated, and the viewing experience was unparalleled.
The LD was followed by VCD in 2002, and then the DVDs in 2004. Whenever new technology in movie viewing was introduced, Prakash kept up. Customer Srikanth Visveswaran, who Prakash calls the ‘local IMDb of the 90s’, notes that the unique thing about Tic Tac was it kept evolving with time. “Prakash tried his best to keep up with changing times. When a particular transition came up, he made sure all formats were available. His collections were mind-blowing. Name it and you’ll find it,” he says. For Srikanth, an ardent movie buff, Tic Tac is special. “Technology keeps evolving, and with the Internet, you can easily download a movie or stream it online. But for me, being inside the library, going over movie titles, or recommending them to walk-ins, was as enjoyable as the movie experience,” he says.
The library’s very first member, Prakash Santhanam, is disappointed to see the library close, but he says, his memories are still fresh. His son, Raghav, also a regular, chimes in, saying, “movie rental is a word but Tic Tac is an emotion. It will be weird to see some other store in this space”.
Damodharan from Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy (BOFTA) in Kodambakkam offered to take a major chunk of the titles from Tic Tac. Though Prakash has not made any immediate plans, he is taking his time to weigh his options. He says he tried his best to stay open. “We did everything that could be done. We took to Blu-ray in 2011, stocked PS3 games, opened branches in different parts of the city and we moved from door delivery to online orders. But the final blow was Netflix and Amazon Prime. Over this Pongal weekend, I made up my mind that the time had come.”
One room, 72 VHS tapes
I became a member of Tic Tac library when it opened in December 1983 with a collection of 72 VHS tapes. Very soon, it expanded and became the in-place for entertainment. I recall the delight of browsing, looking for a movie to watch over the weekend. You could take your time, ask for a suggestion from the staff who were always helpful. They knew the regulars and their individual tastes.
The proprietor S. Prakash Kumar took over from his uncle after completing his studies at St Mary’s School and Loyola College. I asked Prakash whether this was just a business or whether he was a cinema buff. With a hint of indignation he replied: ‘Oh ma’am, it’s been movies all the way.’
Tic Tac prided itself on sourcing the latest movies from legitimate sources. Friends would bring new releases from the US. Prakash’s abiding respect for the industry, which provided them a living, meant there was no piracy, copying, ripping or downloading.
It gradually became a hub for like-minded people. Customers often initiated conversations with others in the store about the merits of movies, and friendships were forged out of common interests. Discussions, sometimes serious, sometimes light-hearted, went on for hours.
Apart from popular titles, a section was reserved for old black-and-white classics, and another for World Cinema. Films were categorised by genre and titles arranged alphabetically. The volume of rentals followed a pattern. Weekends were usually busier, and rentals dropped during the IPL season.
Prakash created an institution that became part of many people’s lives. It will be remembered for a long time.
ROCHELLE SHAH
