‘I want to be as successful and rich as Tony Stark!’
It’s a thought all of us have had after watching films, wishing our lives would change if we put in some effort. In one minute, the character is struggling, and just a minute and a half later, they are at the peak of their lives, having achieved global fame, the love of their life, and all the money they had ever dreamt of! It’s not bad to dream, plan, and get inspired by movie characters. However, movies don’t depict reality, and expecting yourself to become an icon in a few years at the least will only lead to disappointment, self-doubt, and unnecessary pressure. One statistic states that the average age of millionaires is 57 years old, not the mid-twenties as often depicted in movies.
Movies are meant for entertainment only. Hence, they tend to show success as something fast and magical, requiring just a month or a year’s commitment. They skip the tough part, which is the time when you have to wait, fail, work hard, suffer pain, sacrifice comfort, and continue growing. This article explores how we try to project ourselves in films, how we are gradually building ourselves to expect success to occur quickly, and how we can learn to emphasise the journey, even when it doesn’t look like a movie.
The Power of Storytelling
Movies are made with music, lighting, fast-paced scenes, graphics, and strategic storytelling to create emotional highs and lows. They are made to portray events in less time, with characters going from failure to fame in a few minutes. They focus only on the success part since that is what hooks viewers, because if movies started showing the real hardships a person has to suffer, most would never watch till intermission!
This is the power of storytelling, dramatic, inspiring, and easy to follow. Movies will always make you imagine yourself in the place of the character because they are so convincing. What takes years in real life, the long nights, repeated failures, and quiet efforts, are replaced by breakthrough scenes. This often makes us think that we aren’t capable and doing enough; otherwise, we would have also been successful quickly, as shown in the films. We need to understand that films aren’t meant to show reality; they are meant to sell a good story! There is a famous saying in Hindi cinema,
“सच बोलो तो लोग नाराज़ हो जाते हैं, लेकिन अगर वही सच कहानी बनाकर सुनाओ तो सब ध्यान से सुनते हैं।”
(Say the truth directly, and people get upset, but tell the same truth as a story, and everyone listens attentively.)
The Truth Behind the Curtains
Take ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ for instance. Milkha Singh’s transformation from a traumatic life to one of triumph and glory is deeply moving, but shown at a pace. It shows him running, training, sweating, and even leaving his girlfriend for his dream, but does it talk about the psychological setbacks, years of invisible discipline, and mental efforts he made? No! Films like these make people believe that if they start running from tomorrow, they will create abs in a few months.
Let’s just not talk about Romantic films, please! ‘Saiyaara’, directed by Mohit Suri, is a prime example of the unrealistic expectations people develop if someone shows them love and care. The film depicts love on another level, defying all logic! Here’s what happens: Characters fall in love instantly, enjoy a few on-screen minutes, then navigate a life-altering diagnosis, continue holding on to their relationship, and the film ends. All this with the superb script-writing, poetic dialogues, heartbreaking songs, and haunting background scores, makes falling in love and maintaining it child’s play. The story moves faster than the disease itself!
Cinematic fast-forwarding like this shapes our expectations. Cinema thrives on compression, where years of struggle are reduced to minutes of montage, and love that takes decades to develop is shown to happen in a two-minute song. When we keep watching movies where success follows immediately, efforts in love pay off quickly, and the greatest comebacks are made in a few minutes, we start comparing reality to them. We wonder why running an entire month didn’t increase our stamina, why people didn’t stay even after so many efforts, why even after years of experience, our new business failed, and so on.
The Flip Side
While films compress reality, they also carry the power to inspire. ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ is a good example. The film talks about the real-life story of Chris Gardner, how he built his career from a state of homelessness and emotional breakdowns. The film may simplify the timeline, but it depicts the struggle. It tells us that perseverance and determination matter. Similarly, romantic films like ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ don’t show grand gestures and perfect bodies, but explore the arranged marriage of a shy man and a confident, overweight woman. Their love doesn’t bloom overnight; it’s awkward, slow, and filled with resistance initially until efforts from both sides allow them to understand each other. Films like these remind us that relationships are built with patience and passion, and not a love-at-first-sight sort of thing. So yes, on one hand, films can mislead, and on the other, they can motivate.
Watch With Eyes and Mind Wide Open
The danger doesn’t lie in the fiction, but in forgetting that it’s fiction. When we measure the pace of our life on the cinematic scale, we lose patience and forget that real growth can take not years but decades, that real love is messy and not just hugs and kisses, and that real success comes after failing seven times, and rising again on the eighth! Yet, films can ignite ambition, stir empathy, and remind us of our capability. The only necessity is to watch with discernment, enjoy the film, but don’t overlook reality. After all, your story is more powerful than any screenplay, unscripted, unfiltered, and real!