Cinema has the potential to both educate people and promote social change. It began in India in the late 1800s and has since become the largest film industry in the world. Early Indian films helped establish a domestic film industry and promote social issues. Over time, cinema has addressed topics like women's rights, labor issues, and social evils. While commercialization has increased, films still aim to spread knowledge and awareness on important social and political topics to influence public opinion and thought. When used for documentaries and education, cinema can significantly impact society by building understanding and working towards a better social order.

1. Role of cinema in
knowledge dissemination and
social awakening
Dr J Balamurugan
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

2. DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

3. Introduction
• When man comes home after day’s work, he needs some
sort of entertainment and relaxation.
• Cinema has proved a wonderful and forceful means of
entertainment and amusement.
• The cinema is the cheapest and the most popular form of
amusement.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

4. Development of cinema in India
• India is the leader in film production. 1903 movies released in 2016.
• The first exposure to motion picture was received by India in 1896, when
Lumiere Brothers' cinematograph unveiled six soundless short films at
Watson Hotel, Esplanade Mansion, Bombay on July 7.
• The first exposing of celluloid in camera by an Indian and its consequent
screening took place in 1899, when Harishchandra Bhatwadekar (Save
Dada) shot two short films and exhibited them under Edison's projecting
kinetoscope.
• Hiralal Sen and F B Thanawalla were two Indian pioneers engaged in the
production of short films in Calcutta and Bombay in 1900.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

5. Conti..
• Around 1902, J F Madan and Abdullah Esoofally launched their career
with Bioscope shows of imported short films.
• In 1912, N G Chitre, and R G Torney made silent feature film 'Pundalik'
which was released on May 18, and it was half British in its make.
• Dhunraj Govind Phalke, more generally known as Dada Saheb Phalke
was responsible for the production of India's first fully indigenous silent
feature film Raja Harishchandra which indicated the birth of the Indian
Film industry.
• The film had titles in Hindi and English and was released on May 3, 1913
at the coronation cinema in Bombay.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

6. Conti..
• In 1917, Bengal saw the birth of its first feature film, 'Satyabadi Raja
Harishchandra' made by Madan's Elphinstone Bioscope Company.
• In Madras the first feature film of South India 'Keechaka Vadham' was
made by Nataraja Mudaliar in 1919.
• After stepping in to 1920. The Indian cinema, gradually assumed the shape
of a regular industry. The industry also came within the purview of the
law.
• The first Indian talkie Alam Ara produced by the imperial film company
and directed by Ardeshir Irani in 1931.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

7. Raja Harishchandra – movie
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

8. Alam ara - movie

9. Conti..
• The 30’s are recognized as the decade of social protest in the history of Indian
cinema.
• 1931 at Majestic cinema in Bombay. The talkie had brought revolutionary
changes in the whole set up of the industry. The year '31 marked the beginning
of the talkie era in Bengal and South India.
• The decade also witnessed the release of first talkie films in regional languages
such as Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Assamese, Malayalam, etc.
• Some memorable films were produced during the 40’s such as V. Shantaram's
Dr. 'Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani', Mehboob's 'Roti', Chetan Anand's 'Neecha Nagar',
Abbas's 'Dharti Ke Lai, Raj Kapoor's 'Barsaat' and 'Aag'.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

11. Conti..
• The first International Film Festival of India held in early 1952 at Bombay had
great impact on Indian Cinema.
• The big turning point came in 1955 with the release of Satyajit Ray and his
classic 'Pather Panchali'.
• In Hindi cinema too, the impact of neorealism was evident in some
distinguished films like Bimal Roy's 'Do Bigha Zameen‘, 'Devdas', 'Madhumati',
Raj Kapoor's 'Boot Polish', 'Shri 420' and 'Jagte Raho', and so on.
• In 1953, the first color feature, Jhansi Ki Rani was made. Mother India (1957),
Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961), Sangam (1964), Bobby (1973),
Sholay (1975), have been some of the successful films at the box office and
trend setters in the commercial cinema.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

12. DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

13. DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

14. Role of knowledge dissemination
• cinema contains immense potentiality to inform and educate people
besides to entertain.
• It brings about changes in the attitude of the people and their belief system
as well.
• It brings about changes in the behavioral aspect of the people.
• Many foreign films are also being shown in theatres as well as on television.
These films help people to know the culture, values, and people of the
world.
• As a result, they are able to select their value system with more wisdom
and maturity, because cultural openness also contributes to the
development of mind.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

15. Conti..
• It creates awareness about the evils of drug abuse, alcoholism,
HIV, and the evils of having many sexual partners.
• It creates awareness about the importance of education,
medicine, art and politics.
• It also brings us to understand more about the depravity of the
homeless, and the plight of underdeveloped countries, and
countries stigmatized by years of war.
• All these movies help awaken our sense of responsibly. These
socially enlightening movies help us realize the message which are
conveyed.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

16. DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

17. Conti..
• It influences our thought process in a positive way and helps us
to do something in order to be of some help to humanity.
• The great potentialities of the film for education, instruction and
training in agriculture, industry and other fields are not yet
widely appreciated or exploited in India, where the cinema is
generally regarded as an entertainment medium.
• Although documentary and educational films are produced in
India, their circulation is usually limited to large cities and their
nearby towns. Thus, there is a need to fully exploit the formal
use of films for education.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

18. Role of social awakening
• Cinema is a universal teacher. It educates the people in different
branches of learning.
• Our film directors have made very purposeful films to collect public
opinion against some of the social evils as dowry system, the labour
exploitation, etc.
• Social pictures throw light on social evils as untouchability, casteism,
unemployment and the curse of widowhood, etc. These films ripen
our eyes and create in us an urge for improvement.
• It can teach us natural, history, geography, etc. These films increase
our knowledge, broaden our outlook.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

19. Conti..
• However, experiences in Canada, USA, and USSR
indicate that documentaries and films have
contributed to bringing about a better social order
and in building up a national community having
common thinking about the nation.
• In India, for example, film like 'Fire' has depicted the
life of the lesbians and the film ‘Tnquilaab'
concluded with the idea of uprooting the existing
political system in order to have society free of
corruption, exploitation and inequality.
• Films have been the medium for revolutionists who
want to express their revolt.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

20. Conclusion
• Many social scientists have shared their informal experiences and
observation regarding the impact that films have created.
• Cinema, on the whole, is a powerful means of recreation as well as of
education.
• In Indian cinema, the awareness of social relevance was very much
there till recently.
• Gradually, due to various reasons a rampant commercialization
overtook this awareness.
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN

21. Thank you
DrJBalamurugan,SSL,VIT,TN