Are movies centered on physically handicapped and weaker sessions of the Society meant for commercial benefits?  

Resmiji ,Good point you made there(`regardless of their ultimate motive`).Sounds like some of them could be `wolves in sheep clothing`and nobody seems to mind.I have added a paragraph separately.Kindly check if my views are ok.

One need not feel guilty about being sympathetic,I believe.Any person who has a heart will feel sympathetic when confronted with pictures of harsh sufferings of other people on screen.It is natural,nothing wrong with it.    But I have also heard of a particular director who has won Oscars for a particularly mischievous depiction of poverty in India and of Indians in general to the whole world.See,this guy was a millionaire before the film was made,yet he did nothing to ease the hardships of his subjects whom he had chosen very carefully.Those people continued to live wretched lives so that HE COULD TAKE GREAT SHOTS.The movie industry in Hollywood where he came from has a Minimum Wage in place,YET THESE PEOPLE WERE PAID SO LITTLE FOR THEIR LIVES STORIES THAT MANY OF THE ACTORS IN THIS MOVIE WERE FORCED TO GO BACK TO BEGGING ON THE STREETS.The producer/director of this movie made hundreds of millions the world over by generating sympathy on screen.Yet their own film could not generate sufficient sympathy in themselves so that they could make any difference to the subjects lives.

Its not ... dono what the people who suport this statment got in thier mind. but we can take it in dis way too... directors wnt such movies to come up mayb to create awarnes to the public ... to make d public understand that our society consist of such people too ....

Dear Shuili,

Please see the latter part of the posting. My question is particularly about taking movies with handicapped like dwarfs, blinds etc who form main characters in movies, especially fantasies. As examples I can quote Malayalam movies like “Athbhuthadweep”  and “Guru”. I don’t know how far you will be able to know abt these films. Both were award winning films I believe.

Thanks

Ms. Resmi, kindly name the movies, coz movies are made for two purposes, one is only entertainment, the recent ones are "All the Best", "Dil bole Hadippa", the other genre is infotainment, where issues are raised and problems are shown but a solution is given. The very recent movie is "Paa" where the condition of Progeria, a genetic disorder causing accelerated ageing is addressed, the movie also deals with two other issues, one is role of media, the other is a more social moral question of modern life –a live-in relationship and the price paid for ambition.

There was another movie “Summer of 2005”, where the plot was on young doctors, who study in a private medical college, and for fun enter into politics and the soup they land themselves in was the burning topic of farmers committing suicide as though India’s Jamindari is abolished but the loan-shark system is still prevalent, which disrupts the poor farmers and haunts them to death.

these movies tend give some visibility to the issue of disability. presenting an issue in the most matter of factly way, sans the empathy and sympathy is what is required. no movie maker will invest in movie unless he quite sure he will get back what he has invested.

I don't think so.

Most of the mentioned sort of movies are made just for the commercial success. I agree that the creative freedom for all those behind & infront of the screen shall be respected...BUT...they shouldn't take away the self respect of the physically challenged also.. Actors and the script writers should try to hold some morale & ethics when dealing with such subjects.

I am of the view that directors who attempt to create such movies deserve real appreciation and encouragement regardless of their ultimate motive behind creating it. The critics who question such attempts arguing that it is “capitalization through Sympathy” should also not forget that in such movies these directors are taking a risk by excluding the popular heroes and heroines.  Not every viewer who contributes to the success of such movies need be sympathetic and so commercial success cannot be attributed to the critic’s argument.And as lons as these characters are willing to sell their talent, why should there be a concern?