Social causes help filmmakers keep cash counters ringing at the box office

Unlike the past when movies based on social themes which sputtered at the box, social drama has emerged a successful genre today. Filmmakers are choosing pertinent issues to bring to the big screen and audiences eargerly lapping them up resulting in big box office collections.

The likes of Dangal, PK, Jolly LLB 2, Toilet Ek Prem Katha (TEPK),3 Idiots, Hindi Medium took to celluloid to help educate audiences that paid rich dividends to the filmmakers. In terms of revenues, such films did more than just earn good money. They also managed to have an impact strong enough to start a dialogue about a particular social issue.

Take the example of Dangal and 3 Idiots that tasted success on its home turf as well as in China which is also aiming at becoming world’s largest film market by 2020, surpassing Hollywood. China appreciated both these films so much that their collections got a mega boost from the business they did in the country.

While Dangal earned Rs 512 crore from its Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions in India, internationally it added Rs 1,025 crore to its wallet from the Hindi and the Mandarin versions. With Dangal, the theme of women empowerment struck the right chord with cinema lovers in China.

As for 3 Idiots, the film garnered Rs 349 crore worldwide and in India it amassed Rs 273 crore gross.  There was a lot of resonance coming from youth because the stories are similar in India and China when it comes to the pressure of picking up career paths that are safe bets and not what the students actually have passion for.

But it is also the way filmmakers are approaching movies that have social messages attached to them. According to experts, films can work only when issues are combined with entertainment and emotion. This way the movies establish resonance and empathy with people who will then be engrossed in the unfolding of the characters and the story.

Making a good film with elements like humour, drama can keep the audiences on the glued to their seats which is enough to make them come back for more and in turn give good business to the film and also start a social dialogue.

And the proof of this is films like Toilet Ek Prem Katha (TEPK) that talked about the sanitation issue in India, Pink that pointed out the alarmingly high incidents of crime against women and society terming them as culprits rather than victims, Hindi Medium that highlighted the problem in the education system of the country, Jolly LLB 2 that brought to the fore the problem of lack of judges and other issues the Indian judiciary is dealing with.

Two of Akshay Kumar films, Jolly LLB 2 and TEPK went past Rs 100 crore mark with collections to the tune of Rs 107 crore and Rs 132 crore, respectively. Hindi Medium and Pink did a business of over Rs 60 crore in India.

It wasn’t a case of out of sight out of mind with these films as these movies and their themes stayed back with the audiences. So much so ‘Toilet’ was on the inspiration list of billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft. In fact, the film was third on the list.

Akshay Kumar’s PadMan opened up a discussion on how many women in India still don’t use sanitary napkins and instead opt for unhealthy options like dried leaves, clothes, etc. Celebrities took up PadMan challenge to break the stigma around menstruation by posting their pictures with a pad on various social sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and even nominating their friends to do the same.

While socially relevant films aren’t a new trend as directors like Shakti Samanta and Raj Kapoor touched upon subjects like widow remarriage and child widows, but filmmakers now surely know what works best with theatregoers and how these films can spell box office gold along with creating awareness about social issues.