Filmindia (1941)

FILMINDIA October. 1941 audiences used to seeing short films. Once a popular demand for such 'shorts' has been created, it can be harnessed to better purpose by the producers as well as the educationists and the social reformers. JOB FOR CONGRESS MINISTRIES Let us, then, consider the practical possibilities of producing and releasing 'short' films of an educational character, to be shown in public cinemas along with the commercial feature films. The first question is: who wiU undertake to produce these films, in view of the fact that the exhibitors are not keen on them, the average feature film being long enough to fill the entire programme time? Firstly, I suggest, the Government should — and will — produce such films and then let the cinemas have them for free exhibition. The Film Advisory Board may have come into being as a war measure but I think it will neither close down after the war nor will the scope of its work be restricted exclusively to war propaganda. Indeed, already the F.A.B. films are tackling subjects of general interest, not directly related to the war effort, — such as "Making Money", "Here Comes A Letter" etc. After the war, I visualize not only a cleaning up and Indianization of the F.A.B. but also an enlargement of the scope of its activities. I see a steady stream of films coming from it — films about agriculture and industry, about social hygiene and sanitation (like the superb "Birth Of A Baby" recently seen in Bombay), films showing India's many ancient monuments and modern cities, her arts and her crafts, films that will educate and inspire and thereby unite the people of India. It is not an impossible dream and can be achieved by an expenditure of about five lakhs a year which, surely, is a modest figure in the financial balance-sheet of the Government of India. Compared to its vast educative potentialities, so cheap is the film that even the provincial Governments can set up their own film units and produce short films, in their provincial language, with particular relevance to their provincial problems. As there is more likelihood of nationalist and progressive ministries functioning in the provinces than at the centre, we have a greater scope of useful activity in this smaller field. In the short time that they held the reins of office in the provinces, the Congress ministries were able to do a lot in the fields of education, social reform and economic welfare of the masses. Next time they return to office, let them take advantage of the cinema to carry their message of progress and reform to every citizen under their charge. Mere literacy is not enough. The mental horizon of the ignorant people has to be widened if they are to be useful citizens of a free India. Their orthodoxy and superstitions have xo be battered down. They have to be convinced that infant mortality is caused not by a malignant demon but by unhygienic quack methods of delivery and that small-pox can be prevented by inoculation and not by worshipping the stone idol of Seetta Mata. And the film, with its direct visual appeal, is the best method of assailing this ignorance and superstition. Soviet Russia has proved it. It is perhaps not generally known that an educational 'short' of about 1000 feet costs little more than Rs. 6,000. Surely, even the poorest province can afford to produce half a dozen short films every year for maos education. HARNESSING COMMERCIAL FILMS Next to the Government, I believe that educational films should be — and will be! — produced by large industrial and commercial firms whose desire for profits can be harnessed for mass education. In England, most of the educational 'documentaries' have been subsidized and produced at the instance of industrial corporations or Government departments. In India, too, if the big industrialists use their imaginaton, they can not only enlarge their business but also help to enlighten the masses through the medium of the film. A few examples will clarify the point I am trying to make out. Suppose the Tatas decided to have a film made depicting the really ro mantic rise of their great steel works and the really thrilUng industrial activity at Jamshedpur, won't it help to acquaint our masses in villages and smaU towns with the great possibilities of industrialization? A film made by Scindia Steam Navigation Company could give us ;hi romantic past — and the tragic present— of Indian shipping; a B.E.S.T. film could teacn us a lot about electricity and its manifold use.s; some soap-manufacturer, while advertising his product through a film, could spread some useful knowledge about hygiene and health; railway companies can increase their revenues by showing films of the inany beautiful cities served by them Burmah Shell Petroleum Company has already made some films which, while indirectly advertising petrol and kerosene oil, have an educative character. But unfortunately the few advertising films so far produced in India have been badly made and blatant in shouting the qualities of their wares. Advertising, Like propaganda, has got to be subtle to be successful and only the advertising films which are imaginatively made will secure results. For instance, a film in which throughout the qualities of Sunlight Soap are shouted and sung may amuse some simple people — but will it really convince them? I wonder if it would greatly push the sale of Sunlight Soap. On the other hand, suppose they made a film not about •'Sunlight Soap" but "Soap" in general— its importance for health and hygiene — and emphasised the necessity of cleanliness in our homes, that would surely be a great incentive to the sale of soap — including the SunUght brand! I am not an expert in advertising but I have just tried to briefly indicate the possibilities of combining business with mass education and thereby getting free educational films. In a sociahst state there would be no need for us to depend on industrial magnates for this purpose. But under the capitalist system we have to get things somehow. If newspapers run on advertisements, why can't the educational possibilities of the screen be developed through advertising films? 66