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Water Consciousness and Indian Cinema: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Select Hindi Language Movies

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,” and so wrote the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his unforgettable poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner way back in 1798 (Taylor Coleridge in The rime of the ancient mariner and other poems, 1st edn. William Collins, Glasgow, 2016) [1]. While one cannot be sure if Coleridge was a clairvoyant, the prophetic line could very well turn into a dystopian reality soon if people are not sensitized about the misuse of water. In this regard, the role of popular media in general and cinema in particular is critically important. In a country like India, cinema has the potential to bring about awareness vis-à-vis the conservation and proper utilization of water. While it cannot be said that Indian cinema has been particularly concerned about water, there have been attempts here and there to further the discourse around water and bring about a paradigm shift in people’s everyday aquatic behavior. The current paper would do a critical discourse analysis of five Hindi language movies and pinpoint the diegetic and thematic elements in the said movies that ventured into creating water consciousness among the audience. The five movies that have been selected by the researchers in the process are Lagaan (2001), Well Done Abba (2010), Jal (2013), Kaun Kitney Paani Mein (2015), and Kadvi Hawa (2017).

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Water Treatment and Management - Select Proceedings of ICAWTM 2023
EditorsAnurag Mudgal, Philip Davies, Maria Kennedy, Guillermo Zaragoza, Kiho Park
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages115-127
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9789819759545
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Event2nd International Conference on Advances in Water Treatment and Management, ICAWTM 2023 - Gandhinagar, India
Duration: 11-03-202312-03-2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Volume536 LNCE
ISSN (Print)2366-2557
ISSN (Electronic)2366-2565

Conference

Conference2nd International Conference on Advances in Water Treatment and Management, ICAWTM 2023
Country/TerritoryIndia
CityGandhinagar
Period11-03-2312-03-23

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Civil and Structural Engineering

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