The cinema is the most popular form of entertainment today. Young and old, rich and poor, boys and girls throng the cinema halls in thousands to see a film. They do not bother about the type of picture they see. They have some, leisure and they want to utilize it in refreshing their tired brains. The cinema has become so popular of late that more and more cinema halls are coming up. There is not a city worth the name which does not boast of a number of cinema halls.
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The movies take a man away from the hard realities of life. He forgets for a time his worries and anxieties. He is in Na dreamland and shares with the actors and actresses their joy and sorrows.
The cinema has an educative value as well. Historical pictures recreate the past for us. We get an exact idea of the times, the dress which the people wore, the language they talked in, the customs they followed and the type of life they led. Pictures like ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Joan of Arc’ ‘War and Peace’, give a vivid picture of the times. Religious pictures have an ennobling effect on our minds. The news reels and documentaries add to our knowledge of day-to-day events. Subjects like Geography and History become more interesting. Social hits awaken in us a feeling of disgust against the social evils prevailing in the country.
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The cinema, however, is not a pure, blessing. It has its evils. Some pictures are indeed very harmful. They depict scenes which corrupt the minds and spoil the character. Such pictures have done the greatest harm to the students. They steal money from the pockets of their parents in order to see pictures. They try to copy the hero or the heroine and dress likewise. They neglect their studies and take interest in talking about the role of different film stars and music directors. The whole course of their life is changed.
If producers keep in mind that pictures leave a deep effect on young impressionable minds, they will produce pictures of real merit. But the trouble with them is that good pictures have seldom a good run. The public taste has gone so low that the same old theme— boy meets girl— proves a box office.
The need of the present times, therefore, is that pictures should aim at improving the public taste. This can be done by depicting scenes of bravery and adventure. Sex and violence should have no place on the silver screen.