How society affects cinema

The changes in society are reflected in cinema through stories. Although in every story the character is associated with some profession or the other, but when it comes to doctors, many decorum and morality are also associated with it. Hindi cinema displayed a similar image of doctors in its early stages. Perhaps the earliest portrayal of a doctor in films was in the romantic drama film ‘Dushman’ (1939). K.L. Starring Sehgal, Leela Desai, Nazmul Hassan, Prithviraj Kapoor, the film was directed and written by Nitin Bose. TB patient i.e. the hero of the film K. l. Sehgal finally gets cured with the help of the doctor. This was the period when the country was boiling on the front of the freedom struggle. Cinema was giving the message of humanity and the cure of diseases like TB through the story of doctors. This trend continued in the film ‘Doctor’ (1941) also.

The protagonist Amarnath (famous singer Pankaj Malik) dedicates his entire life to the service of the villagers during a cholera epidemic. A few years later, V. Shantaram’s film ‘Dr. ‘Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ (1946) was the true story of an Indian doctor rising beyond the boundaries of the country and keeping humanity paramount. During the war between China and Japan, a team of Indian doctors was sent to help the Chinese soldiers. Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, born in Konkan, Maharashtra, was also included in it. During his stay in China, he was making a vaccine for the infectious disease spreading among Chinese soldiers and he started testing it on himself. In true sense, the dedication of doctors towards the society was reflected in the early films itself. This trend continued a few years later in the film ‘Anuradha’ (1960), in which the idealistic character of Balraj Sahni remains dedicated to the patients while ignoring his family.

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