Ethics in Indian Cinema Essay Example
Ethics in Indian Cinema Essay Example

Ethics in Indian Cinema Essay Example

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  • Pages: 8 (2128 words)
  • Published: May 25, 2017
  • Type: Case Study
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Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. [1] The term comes from the Greek word ethos, which means "character". Ethics is a complement to Aesthetics in the philosophy field of Axiology. In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in humans and how one should act. Ethics may be divided into four major areas of study:[1] According to sociologist Raymond Baumhart, ethics I defined as "Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong. " "Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs. "Being ethical is doing what the law requires. " "Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts. " "I don't know what the word means. " Ethics in Indian Cinema India is the largest film producing industry in the world and its

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cinema is becoming increasingly popular in various countries around the globe. The Indian Cinema consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic cultures of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka,Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Indian films came to be followed throughout Southern Asia, the Greater Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union. The cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country as many as 1,000 films in various languages of India were produced annually. They are classified into many divisions according to their language known a Bollywood – Hindi Films Kollywood - Tamil films Tollywood - Telegu Film Mollywood - Malayalam films Sandlewood – Kannada films Bollywood is a powerful medium tha

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provides useful and ntertaining information on history, civilization, variety of cultures, religions, socio-economics and politics. More and more people, irrespective of their ethnicity, watch Bollywood films in many parts of the world. It’s very popular that an Indian movie-Slumdog Millionaire has received eight Oscar awards, and thus, inviting many scholars, filmmakers and technicians to India and making them interested and actively involved in teaching and research on different aspects of Indian cinema. During the last two decades there has been a sudden increase in publications on Indian cinema.

To support teaching and research, several libraries have developed good collections of printed and microforms resources. In recent years, we have witnessed a huge and rapid growth of digital and web resources, and information is now accessible on Indian cinema more easily and promptly through the Internet . In this paper information has been provided on major institutions of cinematic studies and research. An annotated list of databases, printed, digital as well as online resources has been developed that will serve as most up-to-date reference resource for people seeking information on Indian cinema.

Introduction Bollywood is the largest film producing industry in the world. In recent years, there has been growing interest and awareness of Indian cinema, and as such many universities , colleges and other educational institutions have developed and introduced several courses. Indian cinema and culture is a vital aspect of South Asian programs, and we have witnessed that there has been growing interest in the scholarly study of Bollywood and Indian cinema among South Asian diaspora. In recent years movies produced in India have received international attention.

Most recently, there have been successful efforts in the co

productions of Hindi as well as English movies by Hollywood and Bollywood producers and directors. Many Indian actors are working in Hollywood films and similarly a number of American and British actors are also appearing in Bollywood movies. The majority of Indian films are now produced with English subtitles, and thus many people around the globe love to watch and get acquainted with Indian history, culture and society through the movies. Faculty, students and scholars have developed keen interest in the study and research on different aspects of cinema.

So far no bibliographical source with international coverage has been compiled on. Censor Board : The Central Board of Film Certification (often referred to as the Censor Board) is a statutory censorship and it's a body that falls under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It's main duty and is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952". It provides certifications to films, television shows, television ads, and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in India.

Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they are certified by the Board. They follow are and rate the films depending on their content. At present, Filmmakers in India are making some conventional movies which mostly are Bold and have contents that are not suitable for all the people to watch it. So they have certain restriction or codes which they give to the films after having seen it. They are as follows UUniversalUnrestricted Public Exhibition throughout India, suitable for all age groups. Films under this category should not upset children over 4.

Such films may contain educational, social or

family-oriented themes. Films under this category may also contain fantasy violence and/or mild bad language. UAParental GuidanceAll ages admitted, but it is advised that children below 12 be accompanied by a parent as the theme or content may be considered intense or inappropriate for young children. Films under this category may contain mature themes, sexual references, mild sex scenes, violence with brief gory images and/or infrequent use of crude language. AAdults OnlyRestricted to adult audiences (18 years or over).

Nobody below the age of 18 may buy/rent an A-rated DVD, VHS, UMD or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category may contain adult/disturbing themes, frequent crude language, brutal violence with blood and gore, strong sex scenes and/or scenes of drug abuse which is considered unsuitable for minors. Content in Movies: Movies is the favorite time pass for majority of people in India today. So the week-ends are crowded at the multiplexes and other theatres with people who come to enjoy and relax themselves at the movies.

At present in movies with genres going beyond romantic comedy, action, adventure compared to previous years, There are movies being made in all kind of genres and are experimented as well. So at certain point their content as well comes under the scanner as it may not suit all kind of audience. So the filmmakers should take up moral responsibility in portraying the things the right way. They also should make sure that the wrong things are projected in a bad way as the number of people watching films are huge and so there are very many chances that they are getting influenced by the

same.

Recently Smoking was considered as a content that should be banned. So the CBFC have asked all the filmmakers to make sure that they have a statutory warning in the screen where any character is found smoking in the film. It also applies to alcohol. Movies are the main source where we get to learn lot of things which we may not have practically seen or witnessed in reality. So usually in the Indian films we see the villain who is always portrayed in bad light smoking, drinking and harassing women.

So the young kids and children watching it are definitely curious on seeing those things. They eventually get to know all these things. So they have to take care to ensure that they show the right things. The filmmaker though makes a film for a commercial purpose he has to keep lot of things in mind, so as to see that it does not bring any bad effect to the movie lovers. At present in movies there is always the adult contents, double meaning jokes and so on are used a lot so as to attract the youth, As only then will a film make some business at the box office.

The audience also are welcoming this which becomes of a commercial purpose. Gangster movies, Political thrillers show many things in bad light in order to show them as evil, So people are bound to get influenced by the same. This can be stopped only when filmmakers take responsible for their actions. Sometimes when biopics are done, utmost care should be taken to make sure that there is nothing shown in bad light unless otherwise mentioned.

I still remember when a hindi feature film 'Dirty Picture' released people said it was not appropriate for family audiences.

Certain people protested to BAN the film but then it eventually went on to be a blockbuster of the year. It took Vidya Balan one step higher in her career ladder. She won almost every award in the country for her role. Ethically it was not right to make a film like that but then it won appreciations from all over and also doing some fantastic business all over. It was scheduled to be premiered on TV by Sony Max but then since Audiences reported saying it is too vulgar to be have a television premier it was eventually scrapped from screening.

Sensitive and Emotional Indian Audience India is a very diverse country with many religions, caste, culture, creed and so the filmmakers should be careful in picking the right character and make sure whatever they are playing are not shown in bad light. To give an example, Recently a film called 'Vishwaroopam' was supposed to release on December. But then just the day before it's release certain muslims revolted against the film saying that it shows them in bad light and also speaks ill of them.

The movie was stalled form release in Tamil Nadu as the Govt of Tamil Nadu felt that every theatre cannot be given protection to screen the film. The lead actor who also has directed and produced the film underwent a lot of struggle by the time the movie hit the screens. Kamal literally had to sit down with the CM of Tamil Nadu and call upon the muslim people protesting against

the film and he had to show the film to them so as to make sure that there is content in the movie that speaks ill of them or shows them in Bad light. Only after this was done the muslim agreed and gave their consent to release the film.

Kamal was in a state that if the film had not hit the screen at the right time he would have been literally broke Thus the emotions of the various groups should also be considered by the filmmakers while making a film. Recently another movie which faced such a situation was 'Madras Cafe'. This film was against the Tamils and so certain political part protested against the film, They wanted to see the film to make sure that there is no content hurting their sentiments. So the parties after having watched the film have asked for a Ban. The court now is dealing with the matter.

People here are very sensitive and also are quite emotional and so anything that hurts their sentiments will not be accepted. It's usually the censor board that has to take care and make sure that this kind of situations are averted and also should take keen interest in making sure nothing of this sort arises. Actors are Worshipped In India In India, If movie is a religion then definitely the actors are Gods. People here literally worship them and wait hours and hours to watch their Demi-gods on the silver screen. Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Mohan lal and so on have a mass fan following in their respective states.

They are more than just actors to their fans. So when people have such a

mass fan follwing they must set an example to their fans by living an ethical life. Fans adore them and easily get influenced by their behaviour and activities. So they must take up the responsibility on themselves to set perfect examples. I still remember when the movie 'Sivaji' in Tamil released people were at theatres as early as 4 a. m in the morning to see the first show at 6 o clock, That's the power of the stars we have here in India. So they should take up moral responsibility in showcasing the right things to the audience.

Conclusion Ethics is basically what one has learned or got influenced while growing up. So if the right things are taught, Then it would eventually help in the development of the society atleast to a certain extent. Moral things which seen from a different angle would definitely seem different from each person's point of view. So it's on the filmmakers taking some interest and moral responsibilty towards the society in telling and showing the right things, After all its their creativity and vision to make a mark on celluloid that stays forever.

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