Violence begins at home, not on screen

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: The debate on whether violent media images influence youth to commit crime is getting hotter. While educationists and parents feel that the glorification of criminals in movies plays a major part in leading young, impressionable minds to acts of murder and rape, film professionals feel that nothing can be further from the truth."Compared to the real events happening in the world, Hindi cinema is still in the stone age," says film-maker Mahesh Bhatt.<br /><br />Citing the example of the atrocities committed on Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison, he adds that if people were really influenced by fictional characters in movies, the world would definitely be a better place to live in.<br /><br />Actor and censor board chief Anupam Kher agrees that fact is stranger than fiction. "There is more blood and gore on news channel these days. Our films are nothing but a reflection of society," he adds.<br /><br />Bollywood macho man Suniel Shetty also feels Hindi films are being unnecessarily dragged into the debate. "Our movies are always about the triumph of good over evil and the mother is a figure to be worshipped.<br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />If Hindi cinema had any influence on youngsters, they would be treating their mothers better if anything else," says Shetty. Kher points out that several film personalities involved in charity and social work should be role models for the younger generation. "Sadly, you never hear of kids trying to emulate that," he says.<br /><br />Tanuja Chandra, who has directed <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">''Sangharsh''</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">''Dushman''</span>, both very violent films, says that the line between what is acceptable and what isn''t is blurring in society. "Hindi films are just trying to correct things in a small, childish way by not glorifying crime but by trying to make a point that it is worthless."<br /><br />Film-maker Kalpana Lajmi, whose last film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">''Kyon''</span> dealt with the "erosion of values among the urban youth", feels that the recent spate of crime among youngsters could be attributed to the way violence is depicted in an audio-visual medium. "It cannot be denied that sex and violence arouse the animal in all of us," she says. Lajmi adds that the titillation factor in films does impact impressionable minds.<br /><br />However, she is quick to point out that the increasing crime rate amongst the youth should not be nailed merely on films. Lajmi says that the trend has social, psychological and financial sides to it. "It is a wake-up call to parents who do not connect emotionally with their children. Parental indifference has led to a deterioration of moral values."<br /><br />Shetty agrees that whether a teenager resorts to crime or not depends on his or her upbringing and not on the kind of movies he or she watches. Bhatt, however, has the final word. "The accusation that movies are eating away at our social fabric is being levelled by those who cannot comprehend how to deal with the problem in their own backyard," he says.</div> </div>