By Prasanna Singh [ August 15, 2008 ]
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The influence of Cinema

Cinema is a powerful medium. That is the most-clichĂ©d sentence that one gets to hear or read, but it is also the most truthful! A film can change someone’s life for better or worse and for ever!

Think about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was spurred on by a play Raja Harishchandra to start his journey to become Mahatma. A play is not much different from a film; had Gandhi lived in later times, perhaps he might have been inspired by the film Raja Harishchandra.

Cinema can have detrimental effect too, which is better explained by a gory incident like North Hollywood shootout in 1997, where two heavily-armed bank robbers tried to rob a branch of Bank of America. Their style was unique and heinous. Clad in homemade impenetrable body-armour, they managed to emerge unscathed from all the police firing with their bounty. But for some unfathomable reason, they did not run away with their loot; rather, they opened fire on the police and SWAT team. It was their way of having fun. But like all armour, there was a chink in their armour too. Police shot at their shoes, brought them down and waited until they bled to death. Later, it was found out that they were heavily inspired by a Hollywood movie Heat which had a similar theme.

Cinema might be a double-edged sword, but human beings, who are armed with the sixth sense and ingenuity, are experts in using such tools to their advantage. Think of the progress humans have made with the use of fire and water!

So, it is entirely in your hands what you derive from a potent resource like cinema.

On the eve of Independence Day, why don’t we watch a few films which have patriotism as the theme? Since patriotism is high in all of us at this time of the year, these films will be more effective and hypnotic. Try watching them as you have a long weekend. Who knows? There might be a Gandhi in you waiting to be let out!

Be it any occasion, films like Kattabomman (Sivaji starrer), Kappalottiya Tamizhan (Sivaji starrer), Roja (Mani Ratnam), Gandhi (Richard Attenborough), Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan starrer), Bharathi (Sayaji Shinde starrer) will never fail to inspire you.

Agreed, times are changing and today's fast-paced life, even the most popular games are played in mini versions, e.g. cricket’s latest avatar T20. Everyone needs an entertainment format that is short and helpful in recovering from the stress of everyday life, and cinema fits the bill perfectly. So if you visit theatres with such a mindset, you will be highly disappointed when the filmmaker’s ideologies (which you do not subscribe to) are thrust down your throat. Yet, it is equally important to watch some patriotic films, at least occasionally.

Happy Independence Day!

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