portrayals in cinema without debate provide strength to patients and care givers to not tire in their pursuits.
Cinema on the other hand should be seen as a double edged sword whose influence can be both positive and negative. For example, smoking in films by film actor’ s has definitely influenced a justification to many initiating into smoking. Film scenes depicting intense situations with characters taking to smoking or drinking in‘ reel’ life, has been found to have a profound effect on people’ s response to similar situations in real life. As quoted in an American super hero feature film, with power comes responsibility.
Films and Indian cinema are no different than Spiderman, binding the highly fragmented society in its web with the choice of communicating positive or negative health and social messages. Traditional forms of health communication in the present day and age is limited to research publications, conferences and at most to newspaper articles. Though their peculation and more so absorption lies limited to academicians and the intellectual.
Messages with mass appeal that are simple to understand for the uninspired common Indian whose health is equally an important national good lies unaddressed. This is where cinema, seen as a messiah for forgetting everyday burdens and miseries of life can fill the gap in health communication. And help patients and care givers find inspiration to lead a healthy life of dignity and strength in the comfort of their homes and cinema halls.
Dr SaNghamItra PatI
a physician turned public health researcher, Dr Sanghamitra Pati, is presently serving as the Director of regional medical research Centre at Bhubaneswar, Odisha under the aegis of ICmr( Indian Council of medical research). her special interest include portrayal of health and illness in popular media and medical humanities. her work on depiction of cancer and diabetes in Bollywood films got published in the Lancet Oncology and Lancet Diabetes on respectively.
Dr KartIK Sharma
Dr Kartik Sharma works at the Population & Community Development association( PDa), Bangkok in the area of public health & dental service delivery. Previously he has worked with tata Institute of Social Sciences( tISS), mumbai and Public health Foundation of India( PhFI), New Delhi as a researcher in health economics and financing. his interests lie in exploring social and behavioural sciences using arts and films for addressing and raising awareness on health and community issues.
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