Whether its murder, robbery or just plain daredevilry, instances of children and teens committing acts of violence are increasing…and study after study demonstrates that violent programmers on TV influence people to behave in a more aggressive way. Hindi cinema has always been evolving and trying to do something different. If we look at Bollywood today more and more films are trying to give out a socially relevant message to the audience.

You must have heard many a directors saying, the film should have such an impact that the audiences should leave the theatre with the film. Aamir Khan is on a similar spree. After his youth-oriented Rang De Basanti, with his directorial venture, Taare Zameen Pe, the actor will address the issue of dyslexic children.

Sanjay Dutt floored the masses with his 'Gandhigiri' in Lage Raho Munnabhai, a film which brought back to life the Gandhian values and beliefs and helped society in more ways than one. Shahrukh's Chak De India, too, rekindled the dying fervour of sport in India. Just as films try to make a difference in society, they are at the same time inspired by real life instances, and this is what we call a 'unique vicious circle'.

Taare Zameen Par

Aamir Khan’s first directorial Taare Zameen Par will deal with the problem of mental illnesses. The film tells the story of a teacher and a dyslexic (a learning disability) child. There have been films on disables before but they haven’t been able to help the cause in any way. Will Aamir’s film help in putting across the message right and teach us how to deal with disable people. Let’s wait and watch.

No Smoking

John Abraham, like many of his contemporaries, is all set to make a big difference to society. He, through the film No Smoking, will urge the masses at large to kick their 'butt'. "The film is so hard-hitting that I'm sure it'll make a difference. And even if five people quit smoking after watching it, I'll think our goal has been achieved," he says.

No Smoking is definitely the most awaited film. The film starring John Abraham is India’s first film on smoking and director Anurag Kashyap has taken it upon himself to put the message across. Will people cut down on smoking after watching this film or will John’s dashing image with a cigarette in his mouth create a stronger impact on smokers. Well it’s a wait and watch game.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

Rani Mukherjee-starrer Laaga Chunari Mein Daag dealt with the dilemmas uneducated family-supporting women are left to bear. Girls moves to nitty-gritty Bombay and temporarily finds a place to stay while looking for a job. But who’s going to hire a girl who doesn’t have an education and can’t even speak English? The closest Rani comes to bagging a job is when a man asks for sexual favors in return.

Chak De India

Chak De India is inspired by a real life story of an Indian hockey player Meer Ranjan Negi. Negi was charged with match fixing allegation in 1982 when India lost to Pakistan in the Asian Games at Delhi. Negi then took up the job for coaching the Indian Women Hockey team. Under the leadership of Negi, the Women’s Hockey team won the Gold medal at Manchester Common Wealth Games in 2002. India has always been a pro cricket country, but Chak De India changed it all. Hockey which was given a backseat all this while suddenly became a favorite. Girls began to take up hockey as a career and women’s hockey came into the spotlight.

Rang De Basanti

A film based on a social cause can create a strong impact and provoke a thought in the audiences, especially the younger generation. When audiences watched the film Rang De Basanti, the impact was to watch out for. Remember the Jessica Lal case? Apparently Rang De Basanti had such a strong impact that collegians got on the streets holding candles asking for justice for Jessica. An image they had seen in RDB.

This very fact shows us that the audience will definitely get influenced by what is shown to them. Well there can be many factors as to why we get influenced by films like these. The story and real hardcore facts play a vital role in making a difference. Also the actors playing the character and giving us a socially relevant message definitely tug at our heartstrings.

Parzania, Bombay and Black Friday

Films like Parzania, Bombay and Black Friday were based on true incidences. The society definitely plays a big role by influencing film directors and writers to create that slice of life story which the audience identifies with.

So does our society influence the kind of films that are made or do films influence society to do what they do? Confused? Well we have come up with a list of socially relevant films and did a check if they have been able to influence us.

My Brother Nikhil

A day in the life of Nikhil Kapoor: His employer sacks him for being HIV-positive because everyone in the office is petrified. What can Nikhil do? He smiles weakly and disdainfully wonders if he isn't the one with real cause for concern. Being HIV+, he could easily succumb to any infection from anyone in the staff. This is just one of the many humiliations he has to face for being infected by a taboo disease.

My Brother Nikhil had a very unique theme. The film was not only about an AIDS patient, but also delved into the subject of homosexuality, a very controversial topic in our culture. But the film created a very strong impact on the audiences.

NGOs all over the world have been using this film majorly and successfully for screening it to common people, students, HIV positive people and their families. Also, the UN aides have officially put their site link on the website of My Brother Nikhil.

Chandni Bar

It depicts the gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution and gun crime. The film stars Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in lead roles. It also stars Ananya Khare, Minakshi Sahani and Vishal Thakkar. The film was a critically acclaimed hit and it won three National Film Awards. The film changed the perceptions of many by giving them a closer view of the harsh difficulties faced by a bar dancer.The audience had never seen something like Chandni Bar and it came as a shock to many.

Swades

When the NRI audience saw the Shahrukh Khan flick Swades, there was a craze amongst many a NRI’s to come back to their homeland and start afresh. They even wanted to get married to Indian girls only. Imagine that!