Cinema is the prime unifier of a Diverse India: Bobby Bedi at LMA

Ludhiana, May 27, 2019: Correlation between the Changing Entertainment and a Changing India was the subject of discussion during a session mentored by Bobby Bedi, renowned film producer of path breaking and award winning movies like Bandit Queen, Fire and Mangal Pandey . LMA President Kamal Wadhera, introduced the theme by explaining that while earlier, cinema was an area, where the film makers were either making movies for creative satisfaction or for commercial success, now with corporatization and greater sensitivity for the audiences, cinema was not only becoming more professional, more creative, but is also offering great opportunities as a business sector. Bobby Bedi offered a panoramic view of the Indian Film Industry post independence, and also emphasized that cinema in many an instance has been the harbinger of Social Change in our Society. He highlighted that even before Social Change or Consumerism impacted our society, the foundation for it was laid by the cinema. Sharing the examples of movies like a Naya Daur , an Awara, a Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hain, he asserted that these movies were like a kaleidoscope offering a view into the expectations of an emerging nation. He further traced that cinema told stories in a larger than life format, which appealed to people, creating an impact that could usher change like women emancipation, acceptance of gay relationships, a caste less society and empathy towards challenged people. Bedi said that the cinema in India, not only provided entertainment, but along with Cricket was the unifier of a Diverse India. While we as a society are multi cultural and multi religious, and many a times there could be fissures, that threaten our social fabric, cinema in India has remained culturally neutral, totally secular and also encouraged meritocracy. He emphasized that the Indian cinema and especially Bollywood has withstood all the challenges, and in the process, the contribution of our cinema in the adoption and usage of our national language i.e Hindi through the dialogues and songs of Bollywood movies, can just not be underestimated. Bobby Bedi also explained that while the Big Screen and the television dominated entertainment in the last seven decades, in the future, there would be tablets, mobile phones which one would log on to for entertainment. This choice and the breaking down of audiences coupled with a wide variety of content, would be the game changers. This scenario, would offer immense opportunities for start ups, as the investments may come down, and how these experience would be offered, would also necessitate the search for newer forms of distribution and transmission, and different business models. Dr. Sandip Kapur, Sr. Vice President proposed the Vote of Thanks. Mr. Bobby Bedi was felicitated by Dr. Paramjit Kaur, General Secretary, Vice President S.S. Bhogal and Mr. D.K. Sindhwani.