Monday 15 February 2016

The impact of Indian movies

What is the one thing that most of us Indians have in common? The one thing that we have grown up watching, in theatres and again and again every Sunday with family at home? The first thing that comes to our mind whenever we think of planning an outing with friends?

Movies! In India, movies is our biggest form of entertainment and even publicity. Even movies that don't turn out to be a "hit" reach out to many. If you've been in a movie, you can be almost sure to be recognized!

Some movies aren't just entertainment or publicity alone; they have a deep, everlasting impact on each of us. One of my little cousins decided to try his hand at flying off a flight of stairs, inspired by some superhero movie he had seen. You can imagine what end his little experiment met.

You may think that this impact is seen mostly on kids, but it really isn't. Countless teenagers are inspired by movies to elope with their girlfriends and boyfriends in the name of love. The manner in which that "love" develops, and the basis of it is often obviously shallow and empty to those of us who know better. They upset their parents, the society, and worst of all, themselves. In a year or two, once the warm fuzzy period of a relationship is over, they begin to regret their decision. After all, no one ever shows us what happens after the proposal in a romantic flick, do they?

As many of us probably know, many young boys have developed the habits of smoking or drinking in an attempt to ape their favourite actors, who are the supreme image of 'cool' to them.

But the world is changing. Nowadays, every movie is preceded by ads telling us how dangerous it is to smoke cigarettes, and every scene in a movie where alcohol is seen, is adorned by "drinking is injurious to health" at the bottom left corner. However, the question is - does it really help? Most people view those warning messages as nothing but an unnecessary distraction. In fact, the indiscriminate censoring has taken the sheen off many good screenplays.

Movies aren't always as shallow as before. 3 idiots, Chak de India, A Wednesday, Manjhi- The Mountain Man, Talvar and Swades are some great examples of movies that are truly impacting. I do hope that our Bollywood and the "woods" of each respective state strive harder to make a positive impact on society, instead of just chasing the 100-crore and 200-crore tags. Maybe that's the only thing that will inspire us Indians to excel, and accomplish all the cherished things our brains were designed to accomplish!


This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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