Cinema and Social Change: Bollywood's Role in Shaping Public Health Narratives through Entertainment-Education

Abstract

This study examines Bollywood's role in disseminating public health messages through the Entertainment-Education (E-E) framework. Bollywood, one of the largest film industries globally, has a vast cultural influence, producing more than 1000 films annually that reach millions of viewers across the globe. Using theoretical models like Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), this research explores how Bollywood films impact public awareness, attitudes, and behaviours concerning critical health issues and how Bollywood in contributing towards awareness about these issues. A cross-sectional research design vis-à-vis qualitative content analysis was adopted, to analyse the four Bollywood films selected through random sampling based on health communication themes having commercial success on Hindi cinema as well. The study reveals that Bollywood movies have a profound impact towards creating awareness of public health issues including, HIV/AIDS, menstruation, mental health, and negative body image. These films by presenting hope and call to emotions enable the viewers to increase their empathy, decrease the stigma, and make or adopt a societal change. This study demonstrates the potential of Bollywood as a powerful medium for public health communication, emphasizing the importance of strategic collaboration between filmmakers and public health professionals to optimize educational communication.