India Movie Industry as a Medium of Mass Communication Essay

Introduction

Mass media is the foremost medium of conveying information, learning and entertainment to the public. A simpler and more resourceful way of communicating, it plays a critical role in the economic development of a country. With the penetration of the modern resources that make access to various types’ media, essential information is used in financial, political and intellectual exchange. The media normally depicts the soul of the nation. The media is used by the state for social, economic and political goals by educating the public on various policy issues. It consists of print or newspapers, magazines, journals etc.; and electronic media – radio, television, movies and internet. Although in India radio is the media which has the largest reach of approximately 80 percent, the movie industry is however, the fastest growing media with a far more influential visual impact on the mass media.

India has the largest film industry in the world with a production of over a thousand movies annually. This has been fueled by the rising high economic growth and good governance experienced in the country. A large film going public this is the biggest per annual ticket sales and the large Indian community in the Diasporas. These movies are mostly in the main Indian languages of Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Bengali and Malayalam. A large proportion of the film industry is found in Mumbai commonly referred as ‘Bollywood’ (an amalgamation of Bombay and Hollywood). According to Vilanilam, the pioneering film maker in India is Dhandiraj Govind Phalke, who in 1913, made the first feature film. He is therefore referred to as the father-figure and an award Dadasaheb Phalke Award is named after him (Vilanilam, 2005).

Even though India currently has the most advanced cinematography technology among the developing countries, there is minimal development in terms of artistic credo. Shedde argues that the script in a majority of the films is repetitive and monotonous and more creative films are made in less developed countries with less advanced technology (Shedde, 2003). Similarly, the movie industry in India has been accused of plagiarism from Western media. However with unsanctioned figures of a turnover of estimated annual revenue of 1.33 billion dollars in 2001 and employing over six million people, the Indian movies industry is clearly a major player both financially and socially. The setting for a major cultural, social, economic and political influential sector is therefore completed.

The movie industry in India is marked by instability in financial terms and some Indian banks that have invested in the industry have fared badly, IndiaOneStop.com reports that not withstanding, publicly its perception is still very high. This view is also representative of the government and other sectors as major figures in the movie industry have gone on to rise to positions of eminence in political affairs. The influence of the film industry cannot therefore be underscored as leading social and political actors use the industry medium to spring to positions of prominence (IndiaOneStop.com 2008).

In India with its large landmass and huge population of over one billion people, mass communication is a very significant medium for the government to generate awareness of the country or state public strategies and programmes through the conveying of information and education. This encourages the public to become involved in the development agenda of the nation. India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is therefore charged with the development and regulation of the broadcasting, print, film and other media on behalf of the state. Other media includes the government press information bureau, registrar of newspapers, advertising and publicity etc. The broadcasting arm encompasses the Prascar Bharti Act of 1997 incorporating Al India Radio. This broadcasting segment is made up of over 100 private television and cable channels spread all over the country. This provides a forum for the propagation of the movie industry films which are very popular.

The government likewise takes advantage of this medium to sponsor films aimed at advancing government policy ranging from public health issues to environmental, social messages, political propaganda etc. Nevertheless, the government is also credited with assisting in sponsoring the production of ‘artistic’ films that generally lack financing through commercial means. Most cinematographers have also benefited from government sponsored training and scholarships. These graduates in turn produce, act and direct the feature films that propagate government policy and education to the public while proving effective in conveying to the public the message. Some of these feature films are made in the local dialects of the marginalized groups and displayed in the distant rural regions to the public. The government has established two film and television institutes in Pune and at Kolkata.

The major portion of India’s movie industry is mainly in the private sector. It is largely unregulated however; there is government film division, directorate of movie festivals, and a film development corporation.

An example of movie industry influence as a medium of mass communication was the use of prominent Bollywood film stars to help spread the messages of HIV/AIDS virus spread to the public. The involvement of the Bollywood stars assisted the campaigners of HIV/AIDS prevention make headways in an otherwise apathetic public who tended to ignore the message bombarded to them by the government and non-government organizations (NGOs). A programme sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) with a goal of reducing HIV infection rates in India by increasing knowledge and change of behavior was highly successful. They also aimed at encouraging support and concern for the infected or people living with HIV/AIDS. In feature acclaimed thriller ‘Detective Vijay’ about an HIV positive detective, the programme was able to reach an audience of over 70 million people all over India communicating the crucial information about the virus and disease. Commentating on the impact of the medium, Jasoos Vijay the main character said, “Family members used to get up and walk away whenever HIV and AIDS messages appeared on TV… but not any more… Now we all sit and watch and listen.” (BBC-Online, 2008). Similarly another series of weekly reality television Haath se Haath Milaa (‘Let’s Join Hands’) had an audience of over 50 million people. Featuring Bollywood stars, the programme depicted them working together with the HIV/AIDS activities in the epidemic awareness campaign (BBC-Online, 2008).

Other activists like NGOs have similarly used the forum of film industry to convey similar messages correctly determining that the movie industry as one the most effective tools to ensure proper dissemination of their messages. This was exemplified by a church NGO, Prajwala (an anti-prostitution of women and children), which contrary to the often official church-line of promoting moral values, has started advocating the use of protected sex methods. They have produced a film featuring Bollywood actor Rati Agnihotri. Dr Sunita Krishnan, the director of Prajwala was quoted as saying, “the packaging, given by the commercial cinema genre, will help in avoiding unnecessary issues and take the focus to the root. Also its reach and acceptance rates will be better” (Deepshikha Mehta, 2005)

The garments industry has also taken advantage of the movie industry medium of mass communication in actively advertising its latest fashion. The Bollywood or Indian productions are usually adorned with the traditional Indian wear and cultural expression. This is in contrast to the penetration of Western designs and culture in the rest of the world. The Indian movie industry has played a significant role in the continued propagation of the Indian sub-culture both within India’s expanse market but also to the large Indian community in the Diaspora through the Bollywood productions. The conveying of visual effects fashionable designs has even began to be appreciated in the Western countries as the leading fashion house designers of Europe and America borrow some designs from the Indian fashion wear. The movie industry has therefore become a powerful media in portraying and advertising the Indian garments and culture both within and outside the country’s borders. (Tripathy, 2007)

On the flip-side, Bollywood has also borrowed some decadent foreign cultural aspects that have come to be frowned upon within the Indian public arena. The movie industry as it become more successful has also gotten bolder and the expression of this is in hitherto unobserved aspects in the films whereby the players have become less restrained unlike the traditional Indian films and scenes of scantly clothed attire and sexual overtones are becoming common in the Bollywood productions. The films are also borrowing other Western themes while featuring some Caucasian artists. The purists have decried the erosion of the Indian cultural themes and fear it might permeate to other areas hence penetrate a market marked by a persistent and rigid cultural aspects. This is therefore a classic case of the full expression of mass communication medium contemptuous of narrow self-censorship (Vilanilam, John V., 2005).

Another negative aspect of the Indian movie industry is found in the promotion, production and financing of the sector. The arrests of a leading movie financier, Bharat Shah over involvement with criminal syndicates display the rot in the industry. Initially the industry was financed by the film distributors who took a percentage of the earnings from cinemas; however the collapse of the system has led to the emergence of astronomical cost of production. According to IndiaOneStop.com the distributors now only contribute fifty percent and the producers have to borrow the balance from other sources. This include moneylenders charging interest ranging from thirty to forty percent, corporate sponsors, an Indian promissory note system (‘hundi’) which is the most widely used, and the shady criminal underworld money which finance a large proportion of the films. The sprouting out of mega-stars who demand large fees has further aggravated the difficulty. Some of these stars, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are paid over 20 million rupees (440,000 US dollars) per film. Conventional bankers have therefore tended to keep away from the murky world of movie industry and the few who venture rarely come out unscathed (IndiaOneStop.com, 2006).

The advent of the new technological innovations in the electronic media has led to even larger audiences for the movie industry. The emergence of cable television which emphasizes on around the clock entertainment channels has provided an enlarged audience to the media. This new forms are also emerging in the internet and mobile phones where movies and real-time media is directly streamed into the devices. The reach and impact of the media in mass communication is therefore reaching most corners of the population and country. This is further augmented by the enhanced financial ability or purchasing power of the country is boosted by the economic growth being experienced in India. The embracing of new gadgets by the affluent population mean that the entertainment industry, especially the movie industry has a tremendous potential as the various sectors convey their messages through advertisements, short feature films and clips through the new forms of media. The appearance of larger movie formats like DVD, provide a platform for the transmission of mass communication through advertisement in the movie DVDs. The convergence of the various sectors of entertainment has been fueled by this technological revolution. The cinema or movie, television, and music industry have become enjoined by new innovations. Satellites and fiber optic lines have successfully been set up to package the entire entertainment industry in one bundle to homes all over the country. Small gadgets like cell phones, iPods’, etc. have revolutionized the aspect of mass communication.

The use of open billboards, newspapers, magazines, television, and internet pages is a useful forum for advertising messages using the movie industry stars. The movie stars are able to therefore effectively being used to communicate with the public in all the diverse industries but at minimal benefit to the film producers as the movie stars are no longer tied to the studios. This scenario has made the studios not properly benefit from its successes as other branches of the entertainment industry continually use their stars, material and even the movies without recompense rewards (IndiaOneStop.com, 2006).

The convergence of the entertainment industry although further entrenching the impact of the movie industry in the country has however, led to some heavy losses for the cinema industry. This is mainly due to the onset of cable television networks who illegally release new movies direct to the public hence discouraging cinema attendances. Overproduction of duplicated storylines has not helped the sector as declining cinema attendance coupled with palatable piracy continue to negatively impact on production costs and the quality of the movies. However, the industry has recently received a boost as the government has stepped up its funding of production costs and granted the movie business and industry status to benefit from government grants and policies.

Conclusion

India’s movie industry has emerged to become one of the most influential medium for mass communication with an indelible impact on a cross-section of factors. This includes cultural, economic, government public policy, economic activities through advertisements, and forum for most communication material intended for the general public. Although the industry has benefited from new technological innovations as more people are reached, the convergence with branches of the entertainment industry pose a threat to the industry in terms of cost of production. The government intervention and granting of industry status will assist the regulation and respect for intellectual rights and payment of television and studio fees by the other sectors using the popularity of the movie industry. The impact of the industry and use as a medium of mass communication in the future is therefore guaranteed and the benefits to the industry will be immense.

References

1. BBC-Online. (2008). Mass media campaign changes attitudes to HIV in India.
2. Deepshikha Mehta. (2005). Preaching through the mass media. Web.
3. IndiaOneStop.com. (2006). BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIAN MOVIE INDUSTRY.
4. Shedde, M. (2003,). Plagiarism issue jolts Bollywood.
5. Tripathy, R. (2007). South Asian Popular Culture. ‘BHOJPURI CINEMA’ , 5:2, 145 – 165.
6. Vilanilam, John V. (2005). Mass Communication in India: A Sociological Perspective. London: SAGE.