Harnessing the Power of Movies

Written By Prisha Jain (Grade 6)

Movies are a source of enjoyment, fun and amusement. They can be watched online or in the theatre. They are usually enjoyed with popcorn, candy and drinks. 

Indians are really fond of movies like Star Wars, Fast and Furious, etc. Recently Piyush Goyal (the union minister of business and commerce), gave his opinion on the fact that movies like Star Wars, Fast and Furious, etc. could be made in India. In his opinion, it would be awesome if they were made in India and he clearly stated that we should hope to do it. First, it would bring us a lot of money. Many Indian movies like Sher Shah, Bahubali, and others have garnered a lot of views abroad and in India in comparatively lesser time. If Star Wars was made with Indian flavour, imagine how many views it would get? This money can then be invested in infrastructure and development. It would also give us more fame than we already have which will again give us more money as people will buy Indian goods. Most importantly, it would get us soft power. Have you ever seen a queue for Chinese and American products? Most likely not. This is because these countries are famous. They have soft power which in simple words is when you can make somebody do what you want without using force or have authority over that person. This power is very crucial in today’s world. We would go onto the next level and start making our way through the gate into the developed world. Movies influence a lot of people, we all want to be like our heroes and popular personalities. For example, you see an ad of Salman Khan using a cologne or cream, maybe an edible product or an app like Byjus and we want to test it out. This is another advantage of producing movies, which we can use to spread our message to a large audience. 

In his speech, he clearly speaks every sentence in the future tense. This means we can and we must try. Making movies like these costs a lot like hiring the crew, purchasing the equipment and set, etc. This is not for developing countries like India. We don’t have the money to spare. We spend all our money on our infrastructure, facilities, etc. But if we do it we can get more money back.  India has a rich heritage of arts and culture and there is no doubt why we would not be able to do artistic justice to big movies. India has huge IT capabilities which can be used to produce mega movies which require high end graphics. We have great locales and places that are being increasingly used in blockbuster movies as a backdrop. We can easily use our great geography to our advantage. India has a huge talent pool of world-class producers and directors who have won Oscars and hence we can produce outstandingly good background scores which are often an important part of mega movies. Lastly, we have a great diaspora (Indians living abroad) who can make movies successful along with the 130 crore people here in India. Most Indians are crazy about movies.

Being a source of online entertainment, movies are even more popular now in the pandemic. Movies earn a lot of money but making them also takes a lot of money. So movies can’t be made by simply having an idea. You need to have a plan, then the equipment, set and crew, then film a trailer, after that frame by frame film all the scenes. It also takes money to travel to each set. You also have to advertise your trailer and movie. Movies make the world a better place in their own way by entertaining us all. They are one of the most crucial sources of entertainment.  

Featured Image Courtesy – Seventeen Magazine