Of films and fanaticism

The recent news of a murder inspired by the film Kabir Singh has raised questions as to how much impact films have on the society, and how should they be made and received

| OCTOBER 16, 2019, 02:41 AM IST

JAY JOSHI  


A news report that came to light earlier this week stated that a Tik-Tok user took inspiration from Kabir Singh and killed a woman.  While fingers were quickly pointed at the film’s makers, Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga was quick to state that the movie does not promote murder in any way. Even so, this raised the question as to how much influence films wield on society. Should the filmmakers be responsible when making films, or should they completely embrace artistic freedom. Filmmakers appear divided on this issue.

“Yes, films are made for entertainment, but they also have a responsibility to society,” says Sonia Filinto, a filmmaker from Panaji. “The responsibility aspect of it cannot be shunned under the guise of entertainment. All films have political as well as social implications, even if the film is a romance or a drama, and do send out some kind of message. Filmmakers should be careful of what message they give. That said, if someone does something bad by watching a film, it could be because that was his predisposition. We have had violent films around for a long time. But certainly, considering the fact that films have an impact on the society, the filmmakers should be responsible,” she adds. 

Award-winning film-director Aditya Jambhale on the other hand, wonders where one should draw a line when it comes to fixing the responsibility of the filmmaker. “It’s a tricky situation. If we decide to be ‘responsible’ we cannot make a film like Godfather, because Godfather is not a good influence. I think the key is to maintain balance in the film. For instance, in Three Idiots, we see an engineer ending his own life, but in another scene, the protagonist asks fellow students to look at the pictures of their parents if they have suicidal thoughts. So, here, the film gives the right message. However, it’s quite difficult to do that, and you cannot expect that from every film. If we draw very strict boundaries, the film ends up being philosophical, and might lose its essence,” says Jambhale. 

Amogh Barve, a film editor from Ponda avers that society itself also shares a part of responsibility when it comes to entertainment. “While we talk about the responsibility of the filmmakers, I believe that the audience too should be aware that the filmmaker is narrating a fictional story. A filmmaker is not trying to dictate terms of what people should or should not do. He or she is only trying to convey a story. The audience needs to consider this fact when they are watching the movie,” says Barve. It could be possible that he was already thinking along those lines, and the film only provided positive reinforcement to his thoughts, says Barve. 

Natasha Nair, a film buff and advertising professional from Mumbai has a different viewpoint on the issue. “What filmmakers do is art, and it should not be suffocated with strict boundaries. Let filmmakers practice their craft. We have mechanisms such as censor board to check what is right and what is wrong in the films. That said, when the censor board has granted ‘A’ certificate to the film, it has clearly laid down who can and who cannot watch the film,” says Nair. 

Even so, with the growing popularity of OTT platforms and torrents, many ‘A’ certified films are reaching underage audience. How that issue is to be tackled is a different topic altogether. Perhaps, when we make and watch violent films, the responsibility lies with both the filmmaker as well as the audience to understand that the film is only a medium of entertainment and cannot be replicated in real life.

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