Lights, Camera, Action !

Food, clothing and shelter are basic needs of a human to survive on earth. When these three important human needs are once satisfied we are fulfilled for an extent and urge for something that will make our lives enthusiastic. There are different things that make our life enthusiastic, some of them are sports, music, dance, songs, movies, painting etc. We have made entertainment as a part and parcel of our daily lives. It is true that with entertainment in regular interval, helps us to boost activities in our daily life and resists boredom in regular life. The entertainment is not common for all, people select their mode of entertainment based on their interests and even based on money in hand. One such entertainment that is most common for all of us is watching movies. This entertainment is common for all, it does not differentiate based on age group, gender, religion, caste, creed or how rich and a poor one is. Movies are made for different categories of people all around the year based on their preferred language.

Cinema is a synthesis of many art forms like acting, dancing, directing, singing, editing, cinematography and etcetera.  Movies are also in a way a mere reflection of the society. When one watches a quality movie of a region she would gain knowledge about the life of people belonging to a particular geographical region, their tastes and preferences and overall how they make their living. In short, a movie captures the social, economic and political history of a country within a period.

Movies and society

Cinema along with entertainment also thrives to spread awareness on different subjects. In ancient times this art of storytelling was performed on stage and streets to spread religion, mythology and to glorify an empire or a  kingdom. In India, the great epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana were thought to ordinary people through puppets and shadows. The art of storytelling has taken a huge development from then on and with technological advancements, we can access to this art even through our mobile phones at present. Thus the cine industry in recent times or at least since a century is used as a tool to spread social awareness among the masses. It captures the life of the people as it is making the viewers realize the present condition. The neo movies talk about gender equality, socialist views, peace, politics and so on. The film directors and actors are held responsible to influence a mass number of people, so their role in the society has gained importance.

We knowingly or unknowingly would have inherited many characteristic features from movies. The awareness that is created in movies is more virulent and effective in a society than what a social activist is about to bring because of the ample amount of reach with masses. This does not mean that the awareness spread by social activists has zero effect on the society, we should always have in mind that social activists are people who are never paid for the work they do and they do it only out of their interest and passion to bring change in the society. On the other hand directors and actors are paid for what they do and creating awareness is only a part of their profession and that does not form everything that they do. Many great directors in the history of Indian cine Industry have maintained the balance of entertaining people as well as bringing a change in the thought process of the people. A positive message in a movie has a positive effect on society.

The wavering cinema

Commercial movies on the other side have no particular message to society. Such movies entertain us leaving no impression. It is necessary for such movies in society since people watch movies for entertainment. When we notice the development of cinema in the past, one can significantly see the changes that film making has undergone along with the change in society. One such example is the way women were projected and their role in the cine field. In the past women were given the role mostly to support the male protagonist of the movie and were projected more glamorous and though they were good at acting their importance was less felt. Women as technicians in cine industry had very less chance to bring themselves to the spotlight. This condition of women in movies reflects the condition of our society in the past. Even at present women characters only support the male protagonists in many movies, but there are movies where women-centric roles are gaining importance and the storyline copes up with the present social changes. The new set of directors at present completely change the perception of the audience from what they were looking for in a woman to a new reformed way. Participation of women in other technical aspects in cine industry is slowly gaining pace and nowadays we could see more women directors, producers, musicians and actress giving successful movies as competent to their male counterparts. This change in cinema reflects the change in society. There are more bridges that have to be gaped in future considering the participation of women in film making and the way audience consider women. Thus society influences film making in other words, movies also influence society.

 Censorship

Censorship has a profound effect on the cine industry. A movie prior release is screened before a group of government-appointed officials from Central Board of Film certification who look into the idea behind the movie, scenes, and dialogues carefully. This is done to check the credibility of the movie and they make sure the movie in no way harms the fabric of the society. This practice is condemned by many cine persons saying that they curtail freedom of thought and expression, but without censorship, there will not be an effective check on the movies produced. Censorship makes directors and producers more responsible towards the audience.

Movie enthusiasts

There are hundreds of technicians and thousands of workers involved to successfully screen a movie in theatres. On the whole, the producer of the movie faces profit and as well as the loss. The director while gaining success in his work is engaged to other big production companies so do the actor. In this process, the lead actor has an advantage over all others. Since they are captured as the protagonist in the entire movie she/he gains popularity among people very easily. Their face and name are registered to a vast number of people when they prove successful in a couple of movies. The popularity thus gained is beyond imagination. The fan base of that particular actress or actor becomes the backbone for them to further expand their work.

A fan is someone who has intense, occasionally overwhelming liking and enthusiasm for an actor or actress. Some happenings make us worry for absurd fans in India. Last week one such news saddened me, two fans of two lead actors argued that which actor donated more fund for the COVID 19 disease and this argument turned violent and one was killed at the end. Such incidents are fuelled by some fans having irrational thinking. Moreover, in India, there are temples for actress and actors where they are subjected as a deity. Some crazy and ardent followers over exaggerate their reasons to fan follow an actor. Apart from the movies he/she acts, their personal life also comes in limelight and theories of their earlier life, their hard work, and their turning points are brought and discussed in social media. Associations are formed and fan following pages which keep on bolstering their whereabouts in social Media overemphasize them. They are artists but the popularity gained by them supersedes any other in any field of work. Twitter wars are more often seen with hate speech of one actor over another and this cinematic world in many ways kills the zeal of young minds.

Politics

The fan base, association of a particular actor turn as a potent forefront worker when he/she enters into politics. The image created in their movies shows them as a vital leader who could probably save our country. The mentality of the public to always look upon a leader from the film industry is not new in India. The political parties on the other hand use cinema as a tool to attain their motive. They showcase the protagonist having the ideas of that political party and indirectly influence how people vote. Actors having more than a million followers in social media are considered worthy in the political world and politicians make them join in their parties so that the fan followers turn as potential votes in future elections. Biopics are made based on the real political world to showcase one better over the other. Cinema’s influence on politics will continue until we stop looking for good leaders from the cine industry. There were successful and good leaders in the past hailing from cine industry but it does not mean that the present and future should be the same. Politics must not be dependent only on movies.

Stardom

I always wonder why people are so much attached to movie stars. The popularity of them among us is immense and we do that even knowing that they are just actors and not real heroes. We are attracted to them because of the roles they play in movies. That liking for their art should be limited when it comes to the real world. The influence that they have on us on many subjects must be curtailed to a certain extent. Their contribution to the cine industry and the world of art must be praised but we should draw a line on their influence on us. Movie stars are overrated at times.

Neuro Cinema

The concept of neuro cinema is gaining prominence at present. Neuro cinema is a method of movie-making based on the data collected by tracking the brain cells and their reactions when one watches a movie. The tracked data of a viewer's brain is used to create scenes in a movie which could trigger exact emotions that the director expects from the audience. They could make you cry, laugh and think at the exact place when they decide you to do so while watching a movie. They do this using fMRI scans attached to a particular person and study the activity of the brain while the movie is still being taken. Like an engineer plans for a building through sketches even before starting to build so as movie directors plan using our brain activity to bring out our emotions or bring out their desired reactions from us.

Cinema and the art of making a movie is evolving through scientific and technological advancements at present. The creators of the movie would use many more tools in the future to make the audience engage in their work. The influential nature of cinema on ordinary life, culture,  society and politics is inevitable. 'We become what we read' is an old saying, at present, it is right to say that 'we become what we see.' So choose wisely what you see. There is no use in blaming the cine industry alone for the quality of movies they create, they sell what we buy. When we set a high standard and expect quality movies, then we could see things change. It is also necessary for us to understand how movies are made so that we could escape its influence on us in the real world to some extent.

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