- 7/1/2025
Prof Dheeraj Sharma shares insights at TEDxUCER Prayagraj on how Bollywood influences youth and society.
#DheerajSharma #IIMRohtakDirector #DrDheerajSharmaIIM #DheerajSharmaIIMRohtak #DheerajSharmaIIMAhmedabad #RohtakDirector #BollywoodImpact #YouthTransformation
#DheerajSharma #IIMRohtakDirector #DrDheerajSharmaIIM #DheerajSharmaIIMRohtak #DheerajSharmaIIMAhmedabad #RohtakDirector #BollywoodImpact #YouthTransformation
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Transcription by ESO. Translation by —
00:01Media today is talking about the Russia-Ukraine war.
00:21But who has won the Russia-Ukraine war, or who is winning the Russia-Ukraine war?
00:25This is a very interesting question.
00:27Even two years into this entire phenomena, one still is not able to figure out clearly
00:33as to who has or who is winning this war.
00:38Well, I've done this experiment a number of times before.
00:40I've spoken in numerous places and asked thousands of students on Second World War
00:45who won the Second World War.
00:47So I asked people, and 99% of individuals have responded through these interactions,
00:53thousands of respondents, convey that United States or the Allies won the Second World War.
00:59Whenever I ask this question, the answer is consistent.
01:02My second question is, how did you discover that the United States or the Allies won the Second World War?
01:11And the answer is always very, very simple.
01:14Oh, we know.
01:15And then you have to dig deeper a little bit and probe as to how did you know
01:19that America or the Allies won the Second World War?
01:23So when you probe deeper, one of the single most important tools of getting this information
01:31in the last 15 years is Internet.
01:34And in the Internet, too, one of the most important tools is Google.
01:39So 99% of individuals who respond get that information through Google.
01:44And mind you, Google is a for-profit company.
01:47It's not a not-for-profit company.
01:49It organizes its content in a particular manner.
01:53And now, just imagine that you are reading information,
01:57and today the scientific data conveys to you that 99.6% of the people don't go beyond page 1
02:03of a standard search.
02:06And 99.9% of the people don't go beyond page 3 of a standard search.
02:11So whatever information is available on that particular platform
02:15sort of shapes your attitudes, beliefs.
02:18But this is an active search.
02:20In terms of the not-active search, what we call vicarious learning or involuntary learning,
02:26the single biggest predictor of what gets you information is movies.
02:31Movies are the most influential tool in conveying information to you,
02:37and this information then allows you to have changes in attitudes, beliefs,
02:42and shapes the way you approach situations, individuals,
02:46and various different problems or issues of your life.
02:51Movies are one of the sign-
02:52It's a multivariate equation, mind you.
02:54But one of the biggest predictors of how you will react to situations
02:58and your attitudes and beliefs is movies.
03:00Because when we were studying this, one of the reasons why people knew
03:05that U.S. won the Second World War or was leader was movies.
03:10Movies conveyed significant things about the Second World War
03:13which none of us today would know even, many of the youngsters would not even know
03:18what happened in the Second World War.
03:19So, Russia-Ukraine war.
03:21Who wins the war?
03:22The media, the movies will, in forthcoming years,
03:27will convey to us in a very, very convenient manner,
03:30attract you and draw you into a room such as this one
03:33in a very benign environment
03:36and allow you to learn involuntarily
03:39when your real intent to go into that theatre is not to learn,
03:43is to entertain.
03:44But this vicarious learning has a deep and profound impact
03:47on how you think in shaping of your attitudes, shaping of your beliefs.
03:51In Indian context too, we have one of the most prolific film industry
03:56in the film industry producing 17-1800 movies per year
03:59which means if you divide it by 52, it is almost like 35-40 movies per week.
04:05But only about 5 or 10 of these movies every year
04:08have a deep and profound impact on how you think,
04:12how you approach things.
04:13A movie like Three Idiots, for instance,
04:16would actually allow you to question the choices which you have made
04:20now this is all a very debatable subject
04:23but allows you to question a time-tested tradition
04:26in which education is carried out in Indian circumstances
04:29which means people go through a particular mechanism.
04:32It is part of the system.
04:33Nobody is deciding the system.
04:35You are part of the system.
04:36But the movie tells you to question
04:39the choices made by your parents.
04:42Now let me illustrate the contradiction here.
04:44The contradiction here is that individuals who are making choices
04:48are below 18.
04:50And by definition, we have agreed that the age of majority is 18 globally.
04:55So which means individual entering into some sort of a contract
04:58or engaging into some sort of decision-making
05:01prior to attaining the age of 18
05:02is as such null and void in larger society.
05:06So therefore, how are you expected to make that decision
05:08on what you are going to do with your life when you are 16, 17?
05:11In India, your career paths are decided at the age of 15, 16, 17.
05:17Now you are telling people to question the decision-making of the parents
05:21whereas you are not competent to make those decisions.
05:25So who should make that decision?
05:27These are the kind of dilemmas which are projected in the movies
05:30which transform a society, create confusion in society.
05:34Films are a very powerful medium.
05:36Films in North American context were used as a tool of propaganda
05:40in the 50s and 60s.
05:42It was mandated by the United States government
05:44to showcase American movies in the Eastern Bloc
05:47because the world was divided into two parts, East and West,
05:50to create a yearning for the American way of life.
05:54These movies would create in the minds of people in the Eastern Bloc
05:58a picture of America, a glowing tradition, innovation, independence, freedom,
06:03and people would yearn for it and it would create discontent
06:06in individuals in the Eastern Bloc and create a yearning for American way of life.
06:11Even today, evidence is available.
06:13Movies like Argo, movies like Heart Locker,
06:17movies like Charlie, Wilson, War are all demonstrable evidence
06:23of creation of a thought in the individual's mind
06:27of what America has done for rationalizing their decisions in various situations.
06:32It allows individuals, movies like Rambo,
06:36where an American hero goes to Afghanistan,
06:40allows the Americans to rationalize the decisions taken.
06:44It gives them a fodder in a very vicarious manner
06:47and it becomes so acceptable because it is very benign
06:50and it is through a subliminal stimulus.
06:53It is not direct information.
06:54It is not a propaganda documentary.
06:56It is an entertainment movie
06:57and conveyed to you by an independent bipartisan person
07:01which you assume is very, very truthful, very, very important.
07:06For instance, in Indian context, let's take a film like Jodha Akbar.
07:09A person, a Greek god-looking Hrithik Roshan is presented as Akbar.
07:13When the court records of Akbar himself demonstrate
07:18that he was a short-heighted individual,
07:20dark skin, had a mole around the nose and was portly,
07:24how did he become a chiseled individual?
07:28But if today amongst the youth,
07:30scientific experiments have been done and have been demonstrated,
07:34I have written a book on this, you can look at the book,
07:37it is available that it impacts thoughts
07:39of what people think of that individual or that particular situation.
07:43We have done a study in 2015 and published it
07:46where we studied movies of 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s onwards.
07:53Numerous things have happened during that situation.
07:56Things have changed and I don't know today
07:59how deeply our society has been impacted.
08:02So we studied the last names of a typical villainous character
08:07such as a corrupt politician.
08:10By and large, three quarters or more would be a Brahmin last name,
08:14a Vaishya last name for a corrupt business person.
08:17A Sikh is projected as a buffoon.
08:20A Muslim is projected as a devout person
08:23but engaged in nefarious activities.
08:25A Christian woman is always projected as one who is promiscuous.
08:30This epitomizes largely a stereotypification of those individuals
08:36and those societies, those cultures, those entities.
08:39These stereotypifications have very deep and profound impact on what you think
08:43because you start viewing individuals and society through that lens.
08:49What does this result in?
08:50When you create this entire environment,
08:53it results in impact on attitudes and beliefs of people.
08:56So let me illustrate with another example.
08:58There used to be a typical scene in Indian movies
09:01where an individual would swear upon
09:03that scene has disappeared even in courtroom movies
09:08in the last 20 to 30 years,
09:10probably reappearing now in the last 5-6 years
09:12but disappeared.
09:13There used to be a traditional scene
09:15in all Hindi movies
09:17where the protagonist would go to a temple
09:19and try to solve his moral dilemma
09:22by having this interaction.
09:24Quote-unquote, the scene from Diwar
09:26quote-unquote, scene from Gopi
09:27where Dilip Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan
09:29goes to a temple and confronts.
09:31The temple disappeared.
09:3390s and 2000, the 20-year time period.
09:37Temple disappeared.
09:38The faith, the Gita scene disappeared.
09:43I don't know whether there is an agenda behind it
09:46but all of this has an impact.
09:48Therefore, when we conducted these studies
09:50amongst those individuals
09:52who would have been the age group of 16 to 25
09:55during the time period of 90s and 2000,
09:57those individuals today are in their 40s and 50s.
10:02This generation demonstrates
10:05two very very important characteristics.
10:08Low self-esteem and self-loathing
10:10which means they carry a very low self-esteem
10:13of who they are
10:14because their identities have been questioned
10:16as a result of the subliminal stimulus
10:18which has been served to them
10:20as a diet which we all consume
10:22very benignly on regular basis
10:25because in Indian context
10:26one of the single most important mechanisms
10:28of entertaining yourself
10:29aside from cricket is movies.
10:32Everybody in this room,
10:34everybody in India
10:35would have watched movies on regular basis
10:38unless you are really prone not to watch movies
10:40or you have decided not to watch movies.
10:42Everybody watches movies vicariously
10:44or in vicariously.
10:45Vicariously means you enter your home,
10:47there is a movie on television.
10:49You don't intend to watch it
10:50because you are watching it.
10:51But then there is also a voluntary.
10:53You go to a theater.
10:53Crores of people.
10:55This has a humongous impact.
10:56Let me illustrate the impact
10:57with one single number.
11:00Last big Hollywood movie
11:01which came out, Top Gun.
11:04Do you realize how much money
11:06this movie made in a span of two weeks?
11:09The movie made $2 billion in two weeks.
11:13If that was to be divided by $10 per movie ticket,
11:17200 million people watched that movie in theater
11:19and millions more would watch it
11:22on OTTs and on YouTube
11:26and other freely available mediums.
11:28It has a very, very deep and profound impact
11:31on what we think.
11:33So movies allow individuals to learn.
11:37Now, let's look at the premise
11:40with which the movies were originally made.
11:42The movies were made from opera onwards
11:45to the new generation of last hundred years
11:47with an agenda to reflect what is happening.
11:51Movies are the mirror of society.
11:53Movies present our life's strifes,
11:56pains, sorrows, happiness, struggles.
12:00However, I believe in recent times,
12:04in last 75 years,
12:06both Hollywood and Bollywood
12:07have attempted not to present
12:10what is in society per se alone,
12:13but also to influence
12:14what should happen in society.
12:17Now, this is a big leap
12:18which means trying to influence.
12:20Now, our study indicates
12:22that significant amount of youth
12:24today learns how to dress,
12:28how to part their hair,
12:29how to speak the language
12:30to use food to eat from movies.
12:33So therefore,
12:34not just attitudes and beliefs
12:35are getting formed from movies.
12:37Again, I am repeating,
12:38it's a multivariate equation.
12:40This is one of the important factors,
12:41a significant and a large one.
12:44Movies not just influence
12:45our attitudes and beliefs,
12:47but also influence our behaviors.
12:50So consequently,
12:52what is being presented
12:53as a benign media diet
12:55through the mechanisms of movies
12:58have a very, very deep
12:59and profound impact
13:01on how we think
13:02about our society,
13:04about our families,
13:05about us,
13:07about our own social identities.
13:09This is a very, very powerful medium.
13:11I don't know
13:12what is the agenda,
13:14maybe the business,
13:15maybe the type of society
13:18that we are living in today,
13:20but it certainly
13:21has not boded well
13:24for us
13:25in Indian circumstances particularly.
13:27In North American context,
13:29too,
13:30is an extreme
13:30where movies are used
13:32as a tool of propaganda
13:34to a great extent.
13:36Today,
13:36documentaries have been made,
13:37anecdotal evidence
13:38as well as empirical evidence
13:39is available
13:40that Pentagon,
13:42DoD
13:43and many other agencies
13:45actually actively participate
13:46in dictating
13:48and formation
13:49of some of these characters
13:50who then become enamored
13:52and admired by us.
13:55In Indian context,
13:56I do not know
13:57if some of that,
13:58but
13:58the state policy,
14:00the way we think
14:01of who we are,
14:01what we think
14:02of our families,
14:03what we think
14:03of our friends
14:04is impacted
14:06by what we draw
14:07from these movies
14:08and this has a very,
14:10very deep
14:11and profound impact
14:12in transforming society.
14:14So,
14:14as a society,
14:15we are responsible
14:16to a great extent
14:17on what media died
14:19to offer to our youth,
14:20particularly to our children.
14:22It is responsibility
14:23for a society
14:24which is in transformation
14:25all the time,
14:27transforming
14:27for whatever direction
14:28we choose to,
14:29but as a binding element
14:31of that society.
14:32Should we create complexities?
14:33Should we create confusion?
14:35Should we baffle them?
14:36Should we self-loathing?
14:38Should we have low self-esteem?
14:39Are all questions
14:40to be answered
14:40by filmmakers.
14:42Today,
14:42filmmakers have taken
14:44behind the artistic
14:46freedom,
14:49a shielded
14:50approach
14:51behind the artistic freedom
14:53to create.
14:54How many times
14:55have you seen
14:55the typical journey
14:56of an Indian student
14:58reflected in a movie?
15:00Rarest of rare instances
15:01in big movies.
15:02And I am talking
15:03these top 10 movies
15:04will have
15:04a hundred times impact
15:06than the other 1500.
15:08How many times
15:09have you seen
15:09the typical journey
15:10of a class 11-12
15:12student being reflected?
15:13Struggle of a parent
15:14being reflected.
15:16We show in our movies
15:17typically
15:18that after 12th
15:19I am going to
15:20backpacking
15:20and I am going to
15:22travel around the world.
15:22I don't know
15:23which parents
15:24are allowing
15:25kids to disappear
15:27backpacking
15:28and looking for
15:30Deepika Padukone
15:31or any of those
15:31famous actors.
15:32I have no idea.
15:33but creating this
15:36Fantasia
15:36this fantasy
15:37is probably
15:38appearing to be
15:40benign.
15:41However,
15:41it certainly
15:42does result
15:42in confrontation
15:43and conflict
15:44within families.
15:45Today,
15:46individuals are
15:47questioning relationships
15:48between parents
15:49within friends
15:50predicated on
15:51what they have seen
15:52as a benign
15:53staple diet
15:54offered through movies.
15:55Movies become
15:56a powerful instrument
15:57in shaping
15:58our attitudes
15:59and beliefs
16:00and I believe
16:01today
16:02we also have
16:04movies which have
16:04taken the other
16:05extreme of
16:06jingoism
16:06and so on
16:07and so forth
16:08and then we have
16:09the others
16:09where they have
16:10offered us
16:11this deep
16:12and conflicting
16:12thoughts about
16:13who we are
16:14taking us away
16:14from our heritage
16:15and our tradition.
16:17Somewhere in between
16:18lies the answer
16:19for a great
16:20society
16:20to transform
16:21itself
16:22to become
16:23even more
16:23tranquil
16:24and peaceful
16:25we must find
16:26an optimal
16:27solution to this.
16:28I want to thank
16:28you very much.
Recommended
1:08
2:54
3:13