Saturday, March 14, 2009

Do films portray a society or are society influenced by films

Bollywood, the most influntial media in India, and its influence on the young generation.What should the title of this topic be ??? Doesnt matter ..... I have chosen one and will stick with it.

Just ask yourself are you influenced (even if in a very small way) by what a SRK, Big B, Aamir or any actor does on screen.Most of us will say yes to this question. In India, I am sure its the movies that influence in shaping the society.

I must admit, that I am not a Bollywood man. But today I see changes happening in the Indian Society which are a result of the movies being made.

What does an Emram Hashmi or Mallika Sherawat teach the younger generation today or for that matter a smoking and drinking with elan DON SRK or the many sleazy comedies churned out in the past few years.

There are other movies like Swades, Rang de Basanti, Munnabhai MBBS, Yuva, Traffic Signal etc. These movies send a message across to the audience in their own way.


I agree that most of the movie makers work for profit and have to provide entertainment but do they realise the effect their movies have on the society. Don't they have a social responsibility?Shouldn't they try to convey atleast some positive message to the society?

I remember that there was a ban on smoking onscreen which has been lifted for some reason. Though I agree that all characters cannot be portrayed to be non smoking, but then a certain amount of caution is required before sketching the characters.

When SRK smokes on screen there are many youngersters today who take that path. On the other hand, if watching the movie Lage raho Munnabhai, even if one Indian stops spitting the pan on the walls, I think the movie was worth it. Looking at the past few years, we have had movies like Swades, Rang de Basanti, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Yuva, etc. A handful of
them actually. The ratio and frequency needs to increase.

Is it not the responsibility of these so called Superstars to convey some basic social messages to help improve the Indian Society.The sleazy comedies churned out are a sexual disease to the society. These combined with the technology boom results in students, mind you school going students, making MMS clips or Webcam captures. Phew !!!

Is that why the photo feature in a mobile camera was introduced ?

The positive contribution from the Filmstars does not have to be huge, in that the whole movie may not revovle on a social topic. Imagine a star, SRK / Aamir / Hrithik / Big B etc. in one of his movies.
  • Not jumping a traffic signal or unmanned railway crossing in one of the scenes.
  • Telling his co-star on screen that smoking or drinking is bad for health.
  • Scolding his driver for honking his car at a traffic signal or a traffic jam, which does not make sense and increases noise pollution.
  • or even warning him for changing lanes without an indicator while driving.etc. etc.
  • picking a paper or coke can from the ground and putting it in the garbage bin.
  • making it clear that making and sending MMS clips of your girl friends etc. is something wrong. (making a sleazy movie to send this message is crap)
  • and many more such simple issues.

If this is shown regularly in many movies you will definitely see a change in the Indian society. This is not just for the stars but for the script writers, producers and directors to look into.I can go on for hours on this topic but hopefully you get the point I am trying to make here .......... :-)

Shall be continued ............