The Role of Popular Narratives in Stimulating the Public Discourse on Hiv and Aids

The purpose of the present article is to analyze the role of a popular Hindi film, Phir Milenge (We Will Meet Again), in stimulating the AIDS‐related public discourse in India. Starring mega‐actors and directed by an award‐winning director, the Bollywood Hindi film Phir Milenge exemplifies what is commonly referred to as the entertainment‐education communication strategy. We discuss the entertainment‐education strategy in HIV/AIDS prevention, including the role of popular mainstream feature films in stimulating the public discourse on HIV and AIDS. Our multi‐pronged research design to gauge Indian audience responses to Phir Milenge is described, and the results presented. Our findings suggest that popular, mainstream films starring megastars can help break the silence about AIDS, and move the discussion of HIV/AIDS from the personal‐private to the public‐policy sphere. Acknowledgements We thank the following co‐researchers of the Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi, India for their assistance in data‐collection: Alok Srivastava, Dipti Kulkarni, and Kalpana Bindu. We also thank Revathy, the Director of Phir Milenge, and Professor David Gere of the University of California in Los Angeles for their encouragement in researching art initiatives to combat HIV and AIDS. Notes Much like Hollywood, Bollywood has been gun shy of producing issue‐based feature films. In recent years, Bollywood had produced, as a rare token, films dealing with gay issues such as Mango Souffle and Bombay Boys, and a film dealing with female sexuality called Girlfriends. Another Bollywood film, Nidaan, tried to tackle HIV/AIDS but not with the kind of megastars that Phir Milenge had

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Linguistics · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Public discourse · Public health · Sociology · Community Health and Development · Gender Studies · Medicine · Nursing · Philosophy · Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes · Virology

• Escape or encouragement? The role of media entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic in China

  Open Access•Deya Xu, Ge Zhu et al.•Humanities and Social Sciences…•2024

  Añadir item

• Television Drama, Narrative Engagement and Audience Buying Behavior

  Open Access•Do Kyun David Kim, Do Kyun Kim Do Kyun Kim et al.•International Communication Gazette•2009

  Añadir item

• HIV Stigma, Gay Identity, and Caste ‘Untouchability’

  Open Access•Shamira A Meghani•Journal of Medical Humanities•2020

  Añadir item

• The New Conservatism

  Georg G Iggers, Jürgen Habermas et al.•The American Historical Review•1992

  Añadir item

• Stigma and the Ethnographic Study of HIV

  Open Access•Gilbert Herdt•AIDS and Behavior•2001

  Añadir item

• HIV-related stigmatization and discrimination

  Open Access•Anne Malcolm, Peter Aggleton et al.•Critical Public Health•1998

  Añadir item

• Effects of an Entertainment‐education Radio Soap Opera on Family Planning Behavior in Tanzania

  Open Access•Everett M Rogers, Peter W Vaughan et al.•Studies in Family Planning•1999

  Añadir item

• An epidemic of stigma

  Gregory M Herek, Eric K Glunt•American Psychologist•1988

  Añadir item

• Effects of an Entertainment-Education Radio Soap Opera on Family Planning and HIV Prevention in St. Lucia

  Peter W Vaughan, Alleyne Regis et al.•International Family Planning…•2000

  Añadir item

• Increases in Calls to the CDC National STD and Aids Hotline following Aids-Related Episodes in a Soap Opera

  Open Access•May G Kennedy, Ann O’leary et al.•Journal of Communication•2004

  Añadir item

• Media Entertainment

  Dolf Zillmann, Peter Vorderer•Media Entertainment•2000

  Añadir item

• Stigma, HIV and Aids

  Open Access•Angelo A Alonzo, Nancy R Reynolds et al.•Social Science & Medicine•1995

  Añadir item