Ethnic Indian turns quite a movie buff!

Shri Hymavathee (22) sat through 33 movies and fought off sleep to win a marathon movie-watching contest in Malaysia.

An ethnic Indian woman sat through 33 movies, fought off sleep and even exercised to stay awake and win a marathon movie-watching contest in Malaysia.

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Shri Hymavathee, a 22-year-old biotechnology student, took home the grand prize of 1.2 lakh rupees in the Cathay Ultimate Movie Marathon in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

Thirty-three movies of various languages were screened for 72 hours during the contest, breaking the previous world record of 70 hours and 30 minutes.

Hymavathee bagged the first place in a tie-breaker round in which eight finalists were quizzed on the films they had just seen.

During the marathon, participants were not allowed any prolonged shut-eye and those who "rested" their eyes for more than 20 seconds were disqualified.

Hymavathee said it helped to have her friend Siti Rahidah Abdul Aziz give her company throughout the marathon as they kept each other awake.

"But Siti dozed off for a while early (Monday) morning and after that it was a little difficult for me. But I hung on until the final round," she said.