The way through which the goal is achieved is more important

Yogesh Mishra

Literature acts as a mirror of the society. It shows in which direction the society is moving. Cinema almost does the same thing. It also reflects the mood, way of living and thinking. The two art forms have a close association with each other. If there is a difference between the two it is only in the form--presentation.

Good and bad characters from popular novels and the society were picked up and through them a message was conveyed in early movies. Authors and novelists like Premchand, Phanishwar Nath Renu, Sharat chandra, Kamleshwar, Rahi Masoom Raza and Bhagwati Sharan Verma were star attraction for movie men. They enriched the cinematic art .

Some of the story writers also joined the film companies and wrote script for them. But all of them left in disgust as commerce out-weighed other considerations. Profit became the main motive. It was immaterial how it was earned. Heroines who were ready to do " bold scenes" were preferred over those who were not not ready to bare the body.

Reality took a back seat. Fantasy took over. Dream selling became the order of the day. All other ways to earn more profits were adopted. Principles, ethos and everything else the old society and literature stood for were given a good bye. Every day new avenues were searched to become rich overnight.

Literary works were ignored and the society was overlooked. What was dished out was not what was happening in the society but an unreal stuff. Camera attention shifted from the face to body. Neckline was gradually lowered and more and more body parts were shown. Cinema did not remain any more a medium to show the plight of the poor and the down-trodden or the exploitation of women or suffering of the under-privileged.

Double meaning dialogues and songs, titilating dances and suggestive gestures which were forbidden in old cinemas became a norm. The art pictures have become a thing of the past. Those who still make them are called " out-dated".

A five or ten minute videos which could be called "pornographic films" some time back are being shown on YouTube. More than literature a film could change a mind-set. Therefore, watchers of such films which are being repeated on popular sites and cinema halls are growing in number. A ten minute video loaded on YouTube reflects the new mood and the new thinking-- to the dislike of people who still believe in moral and old virtues.

still from the video

In this typical video a daughter who does not consider means important but the goal argues with her parents who do not want her to ape Sunny Leone to turn a multi-millionaire. To her, to reveal the body to earn crores of rupees is not something extra- ordinary. It is a part of entertainment, a kind of job, like working as a manager in a bank. She finds nothing wrong in that.

Sunny Leone is a porn star, she says. She does the work assigned to her by the film maker, like her father does the job given to him as a manager or the mother who looks after the house duties or government employee who does his office work assigned to him. The girl does not distinguish between a good job or a bad job. A job is a job and the motive is to earn lakhs and live a good life. Leon sells her look and figure because people like them and , in return, she gets crores of rupees. She would also like to use her physical power to gain.

She is not ready to buy the theory that only her future husband has a right over her body and that she should preserve it for him. This Ram Gopal Verma created modern character does not stop there. She belittles her mother and every one else by saying that they too bared their bodies but for small gains. Each one of them has remained just a child- producing machine or a house-keeper. She would not like live or die like them

Still from the video

The moralists may be happy to note that the video was seen by 44,57,283 people out of which 25193 have expressed dislike and only 20,560 given nod o approval.

This only indicates that like Mahatma Gandhi there are more people in this country who give more importance to means. Anything achieved through bad means is not acceptable to them. To them, body is not a salable object and the society is not a market. They cite examples of Ahilyabai Holkar, Begum Hazrat Mahal of the golden time in this connection. Their counter argument is that the money collected through bad means cannot last very long. She too knows it because she too has changed herself and wants to do different films now.

Her early life too was different. The story doing the rounds about her is that before accepting a job in a German bakery she had received training as a nurse. Being unhappy with these works, she developed relationship with Matt Erickson and then to a comedian. In 2011 she got married.

Later, she came to India and worked with Mahesh Bhatt and some other film buffs. But she said a final good bye to porn industry in 2013. Now. she has more than 1.5 crores followers on the facebook.

The moral of the story is that money is not everything. Ram Gopal Verma and likes of him should note it. Money can give only a temporary pleasure. For long lasting peace and happiness the emphasis has to be laid on the way it is earned .

(The writer is a senior journalist)