INTRODUCTION:

The culture of Indiais unique and varied. The Indian Film Industry has a long and glorious history.Though cinema advertisements appeared in India as early as 1896, cinema came on its own only after the arrival of Phalke and his silent movies (Lal, accessed, 2017). In India, nearly 1700 films are made every year (urbantrunk, 2015). The culture of films replicates the living style of the people and how it is represented in Indian movies. Indian culture is varied and obtains myriad hues. The cultural forms manifest themselves in varied ways.Each and every region boasts of a varied culture. Regional cinema in India is as varied and rich in cultural heritage as mainstream Hindi cinema. The cultural aspects of film which we have considered in our research report are way of life i.e., life style, discrimination, customs, sophistication, education, attitudes, habits and body language.

This alone is not considered as culture but we can also consider the monuments of antiquity, the temple sculptures of a glorious past, the text of ancient scriptures in the initial stages, the oldest instruments, etc (Chatterji, 1999).

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH:

· To understand the changing scenario of culture caused by films.

· To understand the impact of gender stereotypes and cultural manifestations of films on the audiences.

· The films to be used for the case study are commercial success of films during the period of 2012 to 2016: Barfi (2012), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), PK (2014), Bajrangi bhaijaan (2015), Dangal (2016).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Do films imitate life? Or is it vice-versa? Do Indian films reinforce age old diktats of society or do they endeavour to bring about change? Does mainstream Indian cinema seek to express or entertain ?In films, aspects of gender, race and class, as well as heroism, work, play, and "the good life" are showcased in a fictional realm in a similar manner as an artist’s painting brush or a pet’s eloquent poetry. However as aspectsof popular culture, films reflect social attitudes in a specific and vivid manner. Since films are released nationally and globally to make a profit, producers tried not to offend groups they recognized as influential and usually avoided political controversies or minority opinions.Films have not only become a part of our culture, it’s a culture in itself. So, this powerful medium should give the society the social morals as a responsibility. Film as a medium not only influences our society, but also takes the same society’s reflection, and projects it to the world. This teaches us what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. Not only culture and society need to teach the audiences but through social interactions also they can learn it(Chatterji, 1999).The filmmakers make a choice to have entertainment in films so as to set a benchmark. It is that the filmmakers are portraying what is needed by the audiences, which is leading to a modern-day number game. This number game is forced into media for sustaining in the film industry.

According to Shoma A. Chatterji a film critic, “In India, mainstream cinema is the most immediate and popular process through which social interaction can and does takes place” (Chatterji, 1999). Vikas Shah in his article on thought economics says “Cinema has become a powerful vehicle for culture, education, leisure and propaganda. In a 1963 report for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization looking at Indian Cinema and Culture, the author (BaldoonDhingra) quoted a speech by Prime Minister Nehru who stated, “the influence in India of films is greater than newspapers and books combined.” Even at this early stage in cinema, the Indian film-market catered for over 25 million people a week- considered to be just a ‘fringe’ of the population.. Media representations of Indian women reveal that they are less accepted as persons and more looked upon as objects. Visions of modernity and liberation are being increasingly tied to looks rather than other kinds of achievements. Present day children grow up in constant interaction with the role models from mass media.

The audiences are very much influenced by films of any genre. Some films convey historical things like events, places, wars, etc, Films preserves gestures, gaits, rhythms, attitudes, and human interactions depending on the situations.All media are representations which mean that reality is being re-created for audience and carries the philosophy of those who ‘create’ these images. While mirroring society and its culture on one hand, media representations are suggestive of social and cultural changes and on the other hand they strive to maintain the status quo. Media have a significant role in shaping the self-image of the audiences.The stereotypical representation isthat which influence women’s opinions of what they should look like. Realistically, gender stereotypes create more barriers for women as both genders are affected by these unreasonable and often unattainable goals.

The gender stereotypes used in films for women are either “hyper-sexual” or “hyper-attractive” and passive at times. In horror films women are given characters like sexual, helpless victims. A study proves a significant relation between stereotypes and audience perception.The portrayal of women in the mainstream commercial Hindi films is to be considered amongst feminists (Das Gupta 1996). We see that there is a shift from the above thought due to few films like Queen, Kahanni, English Vinglish, Neerja, Dangal and Pink.Dr. Stacy Smith and her team conducted four studies focusing on gender and children entertainment. In this study they find out that whatever may be the sampling technique still the results remained the same. The study proves that there is a high amount of inequality in genders. Films are generally taken in respect to stereotypes and by following the massive power of the audiences. Many Indian films comprise of a good family melodrama and a song with a good choreography (Archarya 2004). This is being followed by commercial films in order hit the box office. The films which are family oriented have some traditional values.The Hindi film Industry thrives on the theme of adultery. Now they say ‘body knows no love, it only respects desire’ Welcome to be brave new heroine comfortable with her body, smug in its needs (Salam, 2004).

Movie reviews:

The movie reviews mentioned below are the ones which where got from various reviewers:

1. Barfi:

The film Barfi is film of a dumb and deaf person in the normal world. Later Barfi becomes like another person and lives a normal life-style. The story does not fully rely on the ability of creativity or originality. In fact his natural joie de vivre attitude, notwithstanding the deficit, imparts distinctiveness to his blithe biopic.The relationship between Barfi and Shrithi was being confined to old-age Syndrome of girl being from a rich family and boy being from a poor background.

The plus points are: Acting of the hero.

2. Bhaag milkha bhaag:

The movie BhaagMilkhaBhaag completely shows the Indian history from one’s perspective especially the way the singhs culture is represented effectively and also in the other way singhs revolutionary way they portrait.

And they show the relationship of India and Pakistan in those days How the disputes has been started and “Milkha” and his family effected with that issues , then how “milkha” life has been started into the troubles of India and Pakistan issues .

The minus points are:

· Education is not given importance.

· The relationship of husband and wife is projected in a very erotic way.

· Women being harassed by the husbands domination in India.

In this movie the food and dressing style has been showed very patriotically .The way whole movie is look like intense bio-drama.

3. Pk:

The PK is said to be a comedy-drama.

The movie starts with Jaggu (Anushka Sharma), a journalist student in Bruges, Belgium who after completing her studies and recovering from a failed relationship with her Pakistani lover Sarfaraz (SushantSingh) comes back to her hometown in India. Here, she joines PK (Aamir Khan) who has his own weird ways of dealing with worldly affairs. He is shown as a unique creature

The plus points in this film are

· Charaterization is perfectly made

· Songs

· Music and BGM

· No punch lines are used

· Antagonist played very well

· Screenplay demands a degree of willing suspension of disbelief

· Pace is maintained properly

· Amir Khan’s role is having perfection

· Dialogues gripped the audiences entertainment

· Hirani with spices

· Anusha Sharma acting and her romance with sushant

· Cinematography

The minus points in the film are

· Narration slow at certain points

· The questions were put forward and there was no attempt to solve it.

4. Bajrangibhaijaan:

BajrangiBhaijaan was a film which deals with cross-border issues with a message of peace.

The plus points in the film are

· The dialogues of Nawazuddin'sare hamming and high pitched dialogues.

· Struggling to find Munni’s religion.

· Perfect pace in the story without many twists in it.

· The theme of humanity.

· Recitation of Hanuman Chaalisa

· His interaction and his conversation with the child actor Harshaali

· Dialogues

· Salman Khan innocence

· Music and BGM sets the films

· Cinematography

· Screenplay

The minus in this film are

Missing signature punchlines.

Dialogues:

· "Ye Brahmin hogi, dekhtinahikitnigorihai."

· "Kshatriya hogi, womaaskhatehainaur gore bhihotehain."

· ‘Thodasa Kashmir hamaarepaasbhihai’.

The film actually begins after the post-interval, where the action starts at Pakistan and ends up with an unrealistic climax. The hero is deprived of his coolness at two situations – during the rescue of the girl in delhi and in Pakistani police outpost.

5. Dangal:

The plus points are:

· Story for the surprises.

· Inspire more women.

· Music and lyricist.

· Aamir Khan’s best performance.

· Geeta and Babitha are fully involved in these roles.

The minus points are:

· Cinematography.

· The entertainment quotient is missing

· Director Nitesh Tiwari

METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY:

There are, many films which are produced by Bollywood film industry which focus on cultures of India. The methods used in this study are as follows:

1 The films are selected based on the commercial success.

2 Content analysis of movie reviews has be done.

3 Analysis of audience perception is being done using a survey method. The sample size is 50. The respondents for this sample are the students of Karunya university, Coimbatore who have watched the selected films Barfi (2012), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), PK (2014), Bajrangibhaijaan (2015), Dangal (2016).)

The maximum percentage of respondents living in the city is 52% and the percent of respondents are from the age group of 18-24. 76% state that the culture is changing. The maximum number of respondents state that the early customs and beliefs of our country still exist in the present world. The respondents state that the influence of films on audiences is present. 68% of respondents state that the films are showing the daily life scenarios. 88% of respondents state that they view a film for the storyline it contains and not the characters in it. The maximum number of respondents state that the films are reflecting on their personal life. The maximum number of respondents state that the films are not very much focusing on discrimination. The respondents state that portrayal of religion is not given much importance. The films are not showing family differences according to the respondents. The respondents state that the films are giving importance to education. 60% of respondents state that the films are showing Cross-Culture. 54% of respondents state that both the hero and heroine are given equal importance in films. The maximum number of respondents state that the audiences are being impressed by the songs in the films. The behaviour of the characters in the film are being impacted on the audiences. The respondents state that the culture followed by the film is being impacted on the audiences. The respondents state that the films are not setting the life style of the audiences.

	Existence of culture and beliefs	Influence of films on audience	Hero or heroine depicted high in films	Impressed by songs in films	Aspects of film culture impacting you	Films setting your lifestyle
Existence of culture and beliefs	1	.346^**	-.045	-.174	.148	.193
Influence of films on audience	.346^**	1	-.235	-.071	.092	-.160
Hero or heroine depicted high in films	-.045	-.235	1	.365^**	-.112	.192
Impressed by songs in films	-.174	-.071	.365^**	1	.081	.267^*
Aspects of film culture impacting you	.148	.092	-.112	.081	1	.413^**
Films setting your lifestyle	.193	-.160	.192	.267^*	.413^**	1