The changing face of media and its impact on cinema

Anshu Khanna, Founder, Goodword Media moderated a session with Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Member CBFC, Actor, Filmmaker, Producer and Suvir Saran, Chef, Cookbook Author, Columnist & Educator to discuss the changing face of media and its impact on cinema at the India PR and Corporate Communication Conference.

Addressing how influencing has impacted cinema, Tikoo stated that one of the major shifts the film and cinema industry has seen is that they are not dependent on a producer and a financer, and a money bag to make content. YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and all other OTT have completely democratised content. 

Having said that, she thinks influence is just not about how many followers you have. Influence is about what opinion you generate and cinema is one of the biggest opinion-making industries of the world.

Today the standard of content is such that filmmakers are not scared to tell tales which are not dreamy and fantabulous. Today's content and what it influences is very real. Stories are told about rural India, about a toilet, about a film on the menstrual cycle of women and the sewing industry in rural India. Tikoo thinks it’s celebration time for content being created in India and nobody is falling short of not finding stories.

Adding to her, Saran said, “If you're an influencer who's doing something good, your number of followers don't matter. The content, if it's rich, makes you a household name because you've given people a connection to their past, something to do in the present and hope and aspirations for the future, I think that's the work that influencers can do.”

He added, “It is this magic that is taking away content from boring cinema and giving people on their phones. Content that keeps them busy, happy, hopeful and complete when they're broken.”

Setting a clear distinction between the two, Tikoo shared that Influencers have their own great absolute hard work that they do but actors are actors. And creators, writers, filmmakers, directors belong to a craft. There are people who influence, create opinions and they have good stories on makeup, on styling, on design. But then there are people who are connected to the craft of content creation. 

“We are opening ourselves to a global audience, to a global market. Let us not confuse the narratives. Rather, it's time to embrace the diversity, but yet the specificity of each medium remains intact, and that needs to be celebrated,” she added.

Saran is of the opinion that content creation, specifically to food, is going through a very dark moment, and yet, food is also going through a renaissance. Similarly, in the world of film and acting, there are incredible actors but there are also some actors who just don’t get the craft.

“The social media and these self-appointed, anointed influencers, maharajas of opinions, critics, they are zero. They've never studied these crafts. They just have opinions. They're hiding behind a screen. Luckily, it's a new media very soon we'll be getting rid of them,” he said.

Ending the discussion, Tikoo shared an example. She said, “At the Central Board of Film Certification, I, Vidya Balan,  and many people who are absolutely from the industry took a decision that we will not certify item numbers. I used to say on global platforms, stop watching rubbish and producers will stop producing rubbish. Now in the past few years, how many Munnis have gone ‘badnaam’ and how many Sheilas have gotten their ‘javani’, I don't have to tell you. The misrepresentation of women, their objectification, is what we have put a stop to.”

There is a renaissance as far as real narrative is concerned. Women are not represented, they actually portray who they are today in Indian cinema. Similarly for PR, that is the big story. PRs and communicators all are a part of this narrative and have given that influence.

Tikoo concluded, the film industry will be nothing if all these wonderful PRs are not a part of their lives. It is difficult to create something out of nothingness. It's almost like writing a story without an idea.

The public relation industry all across the world, whether it is the Indian film industry or it's Hollywood or the films which get showcased in Cannes, it is wonderful people like PRs who are part of that representation, as per her.