Manvi Sharma1 & Ajay K. Chaubey2
1Research Scholar(English, National Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand, E-mail- manvi.sharma4779@gmail.com, ORCID ID 0000-0003-2708-4403
2Assistant Professor-I (English, National Institute of Technology Uttarakhand, E-mail- kcajay79@nituk.ac.in, ORCID ID 0000-0002-6413-798
Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s10n2
Abstract
Amidst Bollywood’s romanticized landscapes and grandeur settings, depiction of the flora and fauna, roaring rivers and drought prone lands, is difficult to locate. But the new millennium has witnessed some new generation filmmakers, sensitized towards the ecological concerns, thus marking a shift from the illustration of idealised landscapes to the representation of nature’s wrath. Since, cinema in India, has a deep-rooted impact on the masses, these creators employ films as tools to sensitize the population towards the climate change threat which though as perilous as the COVID-19 crisis, is often ignored by a significant amount of population. Dawning upon themselves the responsibility of environmental awakening, Nila Madhab Panda and Abhishek Kapoor highlight in their movies, Kadvi Hawa(2017) and Kedarnath(2018), respectively, the horrors of human callousness, leading to drastic change in Climatic condition in India. Panda’s Kadavi Hawa, dealing with non-repayment of loans followed by suicides, portrays the heart-wrenching imagery of environmental degradation and Climate change that has rendered the Village of Mahua, arid and infertile. Kapoor’s Kedarnath on the other hand, appeals for action through horrifying imagery of the catastrophic floods that disrupted the holy town of Kedarnath, in 2013. Through a detailed analysis of the aforementioned visual portrayals, this article aims to emphasise as to how Films can play an important role in effectively addressing dealing with the issues related to Climate. Further, the rationale of this paper is to underscore the possibility of more such storylines, as a tool towards effective engagement and levitation of conscience.
Keywords: Climate Change, Cultural Studies, Bollywood, Films, Eco-criticism etc