Social Change through Diffusion of Innovation in Indian Popular Cinema: An Analytical Study of Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Stalin

"Films can be a powerful tool in long-term social change..."

Both qualitative and descriptive, this study follows a case study method to: examine how innovation-driven social change has been communicated in the Indian films Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Stalin; trace the flow of diffusion of innovation in the form of humane messages resulting in a social change in the films under study; and show how Indian cinema blends the entertainment and education into a melodrama, distinct from the Western patterns of the same innovation diffusion.

This study is based on the diffusion of innovation theory propounded by Everett Rogers (1962), combining it with Albert Bandura's (2006) social learning theory, both of which hold that there is a possibility of communicating social change through media channels such as film, television, and video over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion is a type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are constructs embedded in frames either explicitly or implicitly and are often perceived as new ideas for reform of a social system. The characteristics of an innovation, as perceived by the members of a social system, determine its rate of adoption.

In short, these theories hold that human judgment, values, and styles of behaviour can be altered by televised modeling without having to wait for an influential intermediary to adopt and model what has been shown. Bandura (2006) further stated that there is no single pattern of social diffusion. Social cognitive theory not only posits a multi-pattern diffusion, but specifies how the different functions of modeling operate, in concert with other sources of influence, in the various components of the process of diffusion (Bandura, 2006: 118). The media can implant ideas for change either directly or through adopters. In some instances, the media both teaches new forms of behaviour and creates motivators for action by altering people's preferences, perceptions of personal efficacy, and outcome expectations. Further, traditionally, the communication process has been conceptualised as one of unidirectional persuasion flowing from a source to a recipient. But Rogers emphasised that people share information, give meaning by mutual feedback to the information they exchange, gain understanding of each other's views, and influence each other (Bandura, 2006: 124).

But before exploring these concepts in depth and presenting the paper's conceptual and theoretical framework, Murthy and Das trace the history of Indian cinema and the integration of social messages - e.g., about untouchability, feudal oppression, and the urban-centric life. They also provide a review of the literature on Indian films and their ability to communicate social change.

Two in-depth case studies follow, which examine the films (their storylines, etc.) in depth. In brief:

1. Released in 2006, Stalin is a Telugu film with the Bollywood star Chiranjeevi, often called a hero in the parlance of mass culture, in the lead role. Inspired by the Hollywood production Pay It Forward (2000), the film has a theme that for the purpose of the study is defined as an "innovation": One must help three people without expecting a word of 'thanks' from any, but in return ask each of the three to help three persons as a chain. The kind hero, Stalin, believes that through such helping mechanism in a chain/sequel, an attitudinal change occurs at the micro level (individual level), resulting in social change to help others who are in need and distress. The film was generated large profits at the box office.
2. In the film Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), the protagonist Munna Bhai is a very charming Hindi film hero. He comes up with a new term for Gandhi's philosophy, Gandhigiri, and inducts the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi once again into his immediate acquaintances, that, in the time frame of the film, flow through the messages of an FM radio station, whose beautiful radio jockey, Jhanavi, he befriends.

In both films, one person comes up with a new idea that slowly flows into his immediate acquaintances and then disseminates to the larger population, thus becoming instrumental in bringing some positive change to society. In the films of this study, messages have been generated and passed to larger masses, bringing about a kind of positive change in society. Specifically, the messages that have been chosen in the backdrop of a narrative fiction running in a linear forward, with one flashback in Stalin, offer well-knitted plots moving in a linear way with leverage to power forward the innovation diffusion. Rogers' innovation diffusion and Bandura's social learning theories have been combined for the study of flow of innovation. In both films, there is a clear space for what Bandura opined as an initial skepticism to accept the innovation. Later, there is acceptance that often emerges in a very public fashion. At the end of the film in Stalin, thousands of people throng the hospital where Chiranjeevi undergoes a life-saving operation, whereas in Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Jhanavi, the FM radio jockey, comes to the police station to put a ring on the finger of Munna as a mark of confirmation of her love for him; she even says that Munna has truly become a professor of Gandhigiri by virtue of the change he had undergone through the influence of Gandhian ideals and by virtue of his spreading the innovation of Gandhigiri through FM radio.

In the discussion section of the paper, the authors consider how Pay It Forward (2000) and Stalin and Lage Raho Munna Bhai enable a comparison between the depiction of the idea of "innovation" between the West and the East. For example, the innovation diffusion happens at a single layer only in the Western film.

The authors conclude that both of the Indian films they examine here "stand as classic examples of innovation diffusion, communicating social change that heralds possible new forms of expression to reform humans from mechanical objects to humane forms again. Both films have left little or no suspicion as to their ability call upon the society for a change in its mindset. Both have offered something tangible for the society to learn and to act positively."