New Delhi, March 2 -- I was running late and the film had started. I entered the hall and unable to locate my friends in the dark, sat down in the first seat I could find. I tried to message them but the woman behind me hissed, "Please turn off your phone. The glare is affecting my eyes."

I could see her point. Chastened, I put the phone away. The film was Shyam Benegal's Manthan (1976). The restored print was gorgeous but it was a version without subtitles. The man next to me and his companion were both French-speaking. Stranded in rural India without subtitles, they started murmuring to each other in French.

Right on cue someone's phone started ringing in the row behind me. The woman rummaged in her capacious handbag and finally manag...