Literature Review Now a century old, the cinema has historically enjoyed a competitive advantage over other forms

of entertainment, as built upon two foundations which are currently being undermined. During the movie industrys first century, movie theatres represented the first-release retail market for the American film industry. Until movies were first broadcast on television in the late 1950s, and later became available on video, they could only be seen in a movie theatre. Moreover, until the recent introduction of alternative digital delivery technologies and big screen televisions, the primary medium for watching movies on large, wide screens has also been in movie theatres (Sliver & McDonnell, 2007).

The cinema suffered a considerable decline with the development of the television from the 1950s. The introduction of new competing technologies broadly corresponds to declining movie theatre attendance over time. It also indicates that the mass movie-going audience fragmented after World War II as more product substitutes (black and white TV, colour TV, Pay TV, home video, PCs) emerged over time to provide alternative entertainment options (Stuart, 1976). Fig -1 indicates annual US movie admissions from 1920 to 2005 (Taylor, Funk, & Craighill, 2006).

(Taylor, Funk, & Craighill, 2006)

Owing to the relatively recent, dynamic growth of the home video market, current release windows between movie theatres and videos have been shrinking. As such,

Movie theatres are facing an uncertain future, one in which they might well no longer hold the firm competitive advantage that theyve historically enjoyed.

The availability of product substitutes has been increasing, due to the diffusion of home cinema and other digital technologies that enable consumers to watch movies in forms other than on a theatre screen. Some of the most recent and dramatic threats to movie theatres have arisen from the sudden emergence of the home cinema industry. The cinema is still a very expensive way of showing entertainment and with very different social and economic characteristic to the home video market. However the two are now closely linked: a film may make more money on the video release, and the popularity of a film in one medium is no indicator of potential success in the other. The cinema production industry is an extremely important source of entertainment programming, but has very particular features related to the economics of information: the upfront costs are often huge compared to the distribution. The industry has adopted a form of promotion that uses hype, the cult of stars, and careful planned release of films to maximise audience interest and thus revenue (Epstein, 2005).

Sociological and psychological studies on leisure and entertainment can help us to understand how multimedia could develop in use in entertainment, and fills the gap in the understanding of why users opt for certain multimedia products and not others. Leisure time is one of the central spaces for socialisation, consumption, and the formation and expression the self. Much of this time is spent in entertainment activities, but these activities are frequently peripheral to the use of the leisure time. Leisure involves some degree of freedom to choose, with, however social and technical restriction on the choice of activity and on the form and context. The implications for multimedia are that even if people buy something, they will not use it if it does not bring them some satisfaction (Germain, 2005).

In terms of technology use, unconditional leisure could be playing a video game; Relational leisure may involve going to the pub and playing a video quiz game, watching TV as a family, or chatting on the telephone; Role determined leisure, that related to family or work duties, could include watching television, or playing with children with a electronic game ; Compensatory and recuperative leisure may be resting from work in front of the TV or in the cinema, shopping for a treat or going out for a meal . Of course many activities will combine elements for an individual, and different people will give the activities different meaning, or

involve different freedoms. Indeed, the same activity can have a different position in the square at different times for the same person, and may change over time (Marich, 2005).

Cinema is by far the most common and cheapest means of entertainment in cities in developing country like India. The maximum people can look to cinema is as an exposition of art. In a country like India, where most people are illiterate and so poor that they can ill afford any other recreation, Cinema has taken its toll. Poor, hard pressed and illiterate people find that the cinema is the only means by which they can break the monotony and drudgery or their routine mundane lives. The village or urban labour class are casual about pictures because they do not have the time, the means or occasion to dabble with any of the luxuries they see on the cinema screen. However, it is the urban lower class and small children of all classes who treat movies as something more than mere entertainers. Thus we see that the urban population is mostly influenced by the cinema (Shah, 2012).

The cinema being a very important visual aid can play a vital role in educating the masses. If pictures are based on realities and deal with society evils and the like, the impressionable minds will understand life and society better, and the cinema will be playing its role. The cinema can play a positive educative role in the spheres of photography, art, dancing and singing and this would be a positive contribution of cinema to the teaching of all these fine arts.

What is discussed in the previous paragraphs is just what could be achieved by the cinema as its influence is tremendous. However, at least in India the influence is just the opposite Cinema is not at all educative in its role instead, it is only influencing impressionable minds in the negative. That would go to mean that, the quality of our cinema is very low. The impressionable minds are, as expected, learning what they see in the cinema. They behave as they see, they dress as they see and act as they see. So, the influence is undoubtedly full and complete but absolutely negative. This has to be because, the young and the illiterate learn and ape all of what they see as, and they do not possess the capacity to clean the hay from the chaff.

Cinema can be of great utility and influence if the cinemas made are educative and provide clean entertainment, clean songs and dances of some standard. However, in India, like all other things, cinema has also become an industry highly commercialised each picture

produced must be a commercial hit no matter what it may all be about. The producers and directors get together to produce picture to earn a fortune and not to provide quality education or entertainment for people (Shah, 2012).

Thus, the influence of cinema has got to be tremendous and it is being so. We are getting the return of our cinemas in all our crimes and violence and sex. So it is playing its role of teaching no doubt but what, is just nobody's business. If the cinema has to play the role it is meant to play, the quality of cinema must improve no matter ever if quantity is not retained. It is not important to know how much we learn, it is all important to know what all we learn, as the influence of cinema is great and irreparable.

Bibliography Epstein, E. J. (2005). The big picture: the new logic of money and power in Hollywood. New York: Random House. Germain, D. (2005). Americans prefer watching movies at home. Retrieved November 02, 2012, from www.abcnews.go.com: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=856088&page=1 Marich, R. (2005). Marketing to Moviegoers. Oxford, U.K.: Focal Press. Shah, S. (2012). Influence-of-Cinema-in-India. Retrieved November 02, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com: http://ezinearticles.com/?Influence-of-Cinema-inIndia&id=1298638 Sliver, J., & McDonnell, J. (2007). Are movie theaters doomed? Do exhibitors see the big picture as they lose their competetive advantage ? Business Horizons , 50 (6), 491501. Stuart, F. (1976). The Effects of Television on the Motion Picture and Radio Industries. New York: Arno Press : A New York Times Company. Taylor, P., Funk, C., & Craighill, P. (2006). Increasingly, Americans Prefer Going to the Movies at Home. Retrieved November 02, 2012, from pewresearch.org: http://pewresearch.org/social/pack.php?PackID=13