0:00 Hello friends!
0:01 Nowadays, action films
0:02 are in great demand.
0:12 If you look at the list of the highest grossing Indian films,
0:14 you'll notice that of the top 50 movies,
0:15 most of them are action movies.
0:17 Pathan, Jawan, RRR,
0:19 Pushpa, KGF, Bahubali,
0:21 7 of the top 10 films are action films.
0:24 Irrespective of being made in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or English.
0:27 You'll see this pattern even in Hollywood.
0:29 The list of top films include,
0:30 Avatar, Avengers,
0:31 Star Wars, Spider-Man, Jurassic World,
0:39 Whether it is the Marvel Cinematic Universe
0:40 or YRF's Spy Universe,
0:42 their box office success has
0:44 created a long line of sequels.
0:47 Every year, of the films releasing in theatres,
0:49 many are action films.
0:50 Recently, Superman was released.
0:52 And soon, War 2 is going to be released.
0:58 Even before the release of these films,
1:00 their trailers garner millions of views.
1:01 What is so special about action movies
1:05 for people to like them so much?
1:07 Friends, in this video, come let's find out
1:09 the interesting science and psychology behind this craze.
1:19 Friends, if you remember your childhood during the 90s and 2000s,
1:21 when we used to watch movies on TV,
1:23 we loved the ending of the movie.
1:26 It had the final showdown between the hero and the villain.
1:29 As always, in these films, the police used to arrive late.
1:31 till then the hero and villain's sides would continue fighting.
1:34 Films like, Johnny Mera Naam,
1:36 Zanjeer, Deewaar,
1:37 Hum Paanch, Ghayal,
1:39 Tirangaa, Main Khiladi Tu Anari,
1:41 Koila, etc.
1:42 Instead of being pure action films,
1:44 they were often of mixed genres.
1:46 Like the film Deewaar, had heavy drama with action.
1:49 "Today, I have buildings,
1:50 property, bank balance, bungalow, cars,
1:52 what do you have?"
1:57 "I have my mother."
1:59 The film Hum Paanch was a commentary on society.
2:02 "For whom are you weaving it?
2:03 For those who are exploiting your hard work?
2:06 How long will you continue to be exploited?
2:08 Such slave-mentality!"
2:09 The film Tirangaa exposed corrupt politicians,
2:11 and in Main Khiladi Tu Anari,
2:13 action was mixed with comedy.
2:16 -"Okra!" -"Okra?"
2:17 "Oh!"
2:18 "Shivangi,
2:18 Shivangi, I told you so many times,
2:20 I don't like okra,
2:21 why did you make okra?
2:22 Shivangi?!"
2:23 But with time, the producers realised that
2:26 audiences wait for the last fight scenes,
2:28 so why not stuff the film with action.
2:31 They replaced storytelling with action.
2:34 Friends, this was the beginning of
2:35 modern action movies.
2:37 This trend had crept into Hollywood a long time ago.
2:40 Die Hard, Rocky, Terminator,
2:42 John Wick, Top Gun,
2:43 Mission Impossible,
2:44 The actors who were famous for their acting,
2:47 weren't suitable for these roles.
2:48 These films were made for bodybuilder heroes.
2:51 Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
2:53 Sylvester Stallone.
2:54 Apart from this, we saw some smart heroes too.
2:56 Like Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves.
2:58 These films were full of fight sequences,
3:01 shoot-outs, explosions, car chases, and stunts.
3:11 There was another stream for martial arts action films.
3:14 Like Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon,
3:17 Fist of Fury,
3:18 Or Hong Kong star Jackie Chan's Drunken Master,
3:21 Project A, Police Story or Rush Hour.
3:24 We had Kill Bill, Kung Fu Hustle,
3:26 The Karate Kid, and many more.
3:27 In Bollywood, such action films became mainstream with the 2004 film, Dhoom.
3:35 "We're thieves,
3:37 we disappear like smoke."
3:39 After Dhoom, we got the Don and Race film series.
3:41 But the kind of flashy action that's popular now,
3:46 began with the 2009 film, Wanted.
3:49 The film that set off Salman Khan's second innings.
3:53 Directed by the legendary dancer Prabhu Deva,
3:56 it was a remake of Puri Jagannadh's Telugu film Pokiri.
4:00 Whether it's Hollywood-style superhero action films,
4:02 martial arts action films
4:04 or flashy Bollywood-style action films,
4:07 these may have different kinds of actions,
4:10 but the rest of the elements of the film is common.
4:13 Action films are often called 'Popcorn Entertainment' or 'No-brainer'.
4:18 Audiences are required to think while watching these.
4:20 Their plots are not complex.
4:23 There's a clear-cut distinction
4:25 between the hero and the villain.
4:26 And the audience is usually told about this beforehand.
4:29 Even if you don't watch the trailer,
4:31 just by looking at the poster you'd be able to tell,
4:32 which actor will be playing the hero,
4:34 and who will be the villain.
4:36 Right from the very beginning, you are told whom to cheer for.
4:40 There won't be any major character arc.
4:43 This makes it difficult to show any grey-shaded characters in these films.
4:46 Characters where the audience would have a hard time
4:49 deciding whether it was a good person or not.
4:52 The stories of such films ensure that
4:54 the audience doesn't get a chance to think.
4:56 That's why they show simple stories.
4:58 If the hero of the film is a police officer,
5:00 the villain will be a gangster.
5:01 If the hero is a secret RAW agent,
5:03 the villain will be a terrorist.
5:05 The twists and turns of the story
5:06 will be presented blatantly to the audience.
5:09 And if a character shifts loyalty,
5:11 at the end of the film, it would be clarified,
5:12 whether they were on the hero's side or the villain's.
5:16 Never a grey character.
5:18 In these simple stories, the characters are grand.
5:21 Larger than life.
5:23 Like a superhero.
5:24 And in the film's trailer,
5:25 the action scenes are used for marketing.
5:28 That's the focus.
5:29 If you watch War 2's trailer,
5:31 you will see one action sequence after the other.
5:44 High octane action.
5:45 Unimaginably large sets.
5:46 Because the audience of such films want that.
5:49 The first film of the YRF Spy Universe was
5:51 Ek Tha Tiger.
5:52 Followed by Tiger Zinda Hai and War.
5:55 When the film Pathan was released in 2023,
5:57 there was a crossover of some characters.
5:59 Tiger came to help Pathan,
6:01 and with this they created
6:02 the YRF Spy Universe.
6:04 While Marvel Cinematic Universe focuses on comic book superheroes,
6:08 Iron Man, Captain America,
6:09 Spider-Man, Avengers,
6:11 Superheroes to save the world and humanity.
6:14 On the other hand, our spy universe doesn't have such comic books
6:17 from which they could borrow characters.
6:20 They focused on patriotism, terrorism, and real-world issues.
6:24 In some ways, such attempts were truly challenging for the Indian film industry.
6:28 The MCU has more than 50 years' worth of content from the comic books.
6:31 As well as older films.
6:32 MCU uses those as the base.
6:34 But the spy universe didn't have such a base.
6:37 They began with films
6:39 and have already become quite successful.
6:41 In total, their films have collectively earned more than ₹30 billion in India.
6:45 For the uninformed,
6:47 there are four main Indian secret agents in the spy universe.
6:50 First, Avinash Singh Rathore,
6:51 codenamed Tiger.
6:52 This role is played by Salman Khan.
6:54 Second, Major Kabir Dhaliwal.
6:56 That's the main character of the War franchise.
6:58 Played by Hrithik Roshan.
6:59 And the third agent is Pathaan
7:01 played by Shahrukh Khan.
7:02 War 2 will present the fourth agent
7:04 Special Units Officer, Vikram.
7:07 Played by Jr NTR.
7:10 This film might be interesting because
7:11 for the first time in their film series,
7:13 we might get to see a grey character.
7:15 The trailer doesn't make a clear distinction
7:17 between the hero and the villain.
7:19 Usually, in action films, the villains are very important.
7:22 Whether it's Thanos in Avengers
7:24 or Jim in Pathaan,
7:26 played by John Abraham.
7:28 When the audience watches the hero fighting the villain in these films,
7:32 they feel very heroic themselves.
7:34 The audience watching the film feel that
7:38 they are the hero beating up the villain.
7:40 Actually, friends, in our mind,
7:42 there's a type of neuron called Mirror Neurons.
7:45 These mirror neurons help us observe, understand,
7:49 and imitate other people's actions and behaviour.
7:52 From an evolutionary perspective,
7:54 they help us learn.
7:55 We can empathise with others
7:57 and relate to their situation.
8:00 Neuroimaging studies done by scientists have proven that
8:03 if we see someone running,
8:04 that is, if we perceive motion,
8:06 or if we are the one running, that is, we produce motion,
8:09 in both cases, there's activity in the same areas of our brains.
8:14 Similarly, if we simply observe a behaviour,
8:17 or think about it later,
8:19 in both cases, our mirror neurons are fired.
8:22 An interesting science experiment related to this is
8:25 the Fake Rubber Hand Experiment.
8:27 In which a fake rubber hand is placed in the place of the subject's hand.
8:31 While the real hand is hidden behind a barrier.
8:33 And when this rubber hand is touched,
8:36 the subject starts believing that they've actually experienced it.
8:40 "Oh, my God, I'm feeling it!"
8:42 "There."
8:43 Our brain looks at this an external body part as its own,
8:47 if the vision, touch, and timing are properly aligned.
8:50 That's why when this rubber hand is hurt,
8:53 the subject feels the pain.
8:55 Similarly, when we watch the hero of the film,
8:58 we relate to him,
8:59 and simulate his actions in our mind.
9:03 This gives us a sense of thrill,
9:04 And the hero's victory, feels like a personal victory.
9:08 This isn't limited to the climax of the film.
9:09 Throughout all the action sequences,
9:11 like the car chases,
9:13 jumping from a building,
9:14 we keep on anticipating the hero's victory.
9:17 Or if he's in danger,
9:18 we hope for his survival.
9:19 When it happens after a while,
9:21 it feels like getting a reward.
9:23 And the audience watching the action film gets quick dopamine hits.
9:27 A sense of thrill while staying in a safe environment.
9:30 In action scenes, we often see rapid cuts.
9:33 To keep the shots short,
9:34 and change the camera angles.
9:36 There's auditory simulation too
9:38 using background music and sound effects.
9:44 This tricks our brain into believing that
9:47 it is actually living in that experience.
9:49 Most of the time, the purpose of action movies is not to be a profound movie,
9:52 to become someone's favourite film.
9:55 In fact, action films aim at
9:56 being fun for the audience.
9:58 Watching a 2-hour fast-paced movie
10:00 and then going back to mundane life.
10:02 The great films are different because
10:04 they make you forget the popcorn on your lap.
10:06 On the other hand, action films are also called Popcorn Flicks.
10:12 This has been proven by research.
10:14 A 2014 study by Cornell University was published
10:16 in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal.
10:19 Researchers gave snacks to 94 students.
10:22 Chocolate, biscuits, carrots, and grapes.
10:24 These subjects then watched the 2005 action movie, The Island,
10:27 and a one-to-one interview-style show.
10:30 The study found that
10:31 the amount of food they ate while watching the podcast,
10:34 on average, compared to that,
10:35 they ate double the amount while watching the action film.
10:38 65% more calories.
10:40 The audience of action films acknowledge that
10:42 they don't want to watch anything too emotional.
10:44 They don't want to watch anything heavy.
10:46 They want to get lost in the film for a while,
10:49 even if it's only for two hours,
10:50 they want to forget their tensions during the film.
10:53 That's why it is also called Escapist Cinema.
10:56 This way, action films cater to the widest possible audience.
11:00 They manage to keep viewers with shorter attention spans and less focus hooked.
11:04 But being fast-paced and uncomplicated doesn't mean that
11:06 action films don't evoke any emotional response.
11:10 Even though action film lovers don't want to watch anything too emotional,
11:13 research has shown that
11:15 compared to crime films and documentaries,
11:18 action films evoke more emotional response.
11:21 Researchers were surprised by these results.
11:24 This research conducted in August last year,
11:26 at Martin Luther University,
11:28 and was published in the Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience Journal.
11:32 In this research, the brain activity of about 257 people was analysed.
11:36 Specifically, the focused on two parts of the brain.
11:39 The Amygdala and the Nucleus Accumbens.
11:41 Amygdala processes our vital emotions.
11:44 Especially fear, anxiety, and aggression.
11:47 The fight or flight response generated when perceiving a threat,
11:51 that is, if you saw something scary,
11:53 and the inherent response that follows,
11:55 whether to fight it or run away from it,
11:57 that response is generated in this part of your brain.
12:00 When we interact with the world,
12:02 and our brain interprets the information,
12:05 it is known as Social Cognition.
12:07 Thus, the Amygdala creates emotional memories like this.
12:11 The second part, the Nucleus Accumbens,
12:13 is called the reward centre of the brain.
12:16 Researchers found that when an audience is watching an action film,
12:19 Most activity is observed in these two brain areas.
12:23 Here, the reaction is the strongest.
12:25 Researcher Esther Zwiky stated that
12:27 these results were quite surprising.
12:29 They did not expect such strong emotional reactions
12:32 because action films have a lot of stimuli.
12:35 The audience watching comedy films,
12:37 they experienced similar brain activity too.
12:40 But on the other hand, the fans of crime films and thriller films,
12:44 experienced lower activities in these areas of the brain.
12:47 They respond less to the emotional stimuli.
12:50 Though this may sound weird, it's true.
12:53 Normally, we group action films, thriller films, and crime films together.
12:57 And consider comedy films to be completely different.
13:00 But this research showed that
13:01 the audiences of action and comedy movies were equally involved,
13:05 and that of thrillers and crime movies were placed in a different category.
13:08 This brings us to another important conclusion.
13:11 Violence is of different types.
13:14 Dhoom, Ek Tha Tiger, War, Avengers, Superman,
13:18 the violence shown in these action films
13:20 can be termed as comic book violence.
13:23 Even the other action films like
13:25 James Bond and Rush Hour
13:27 present a stylised comic book violence.
13:29 There's a lot of fighting,
13:31 but not a lot of bloodshed.
13:33 That's closer to real life.
13:35 This is why even family audiences can watch these films,
13:37 and these films often enjoy the age rating of PG-13.
13:41 Children older than 13 years can watch these with an adult family member.
13:46 In India, it is equivalent to CBFC's U/A rating.
13:49 These aren't dark films.
13:52 As I said earlier, these films have a moral certainty.
13:55 A clear-cut hero and a clear-cut villain.
13:58 The audience projects itself onto the hero and cheers for him.
14:01 When the hero trips, they say,
14:02 "Come on, stand up, fight back."
14:05 That's why people get emotionally involved.
14:07 Similarly, most comedy films are also safe for family audiences.
14:11 There too, you can directly relate to the main characters.
14:14 Whether that's Jim Carrey's comedies
14:16 or films like Hera Pheri.
14:23 But the second category of films I mentioned,
14:25 dark thrillers and crime films,
14:27 they are much more complex than these.
14:30 Parasite, Joker, Nightcrawler,
14:32 Silence of the Lambs, Ugly,
14:34 they offer no moral certainty.
14:36 There present grey characters and dark subject matters.
14:39 It's difficult to know which characters to support.
14:42 Who was good and who was evil?
14:44 I've mentioned this in my older videos too that
14:46 making a film on violence isn't inherently wrong.
14:49 If it is a thought-provoking and sensitive film like Benny's Video.
14:53 The problem arises when
14:54 violence is raw and senseless.
14:57 Which tries to give a sadistic delight to the viewer.
15:01 By deliberately showing such bloodshed
15:03 that any average person would feel disgusted.
15:06 Horrified.
15:08 Such films often glorify crime.
15:10 They promote toxic masculinity.
15:13 These films are the cancers of society.
15:16 Globally, psychologists agree that
15:18 such regressive films definitely have a negative impact on society.
15:21 Hostel, Saw, The Wild Bunch,
15:23 Animal, I Spit on Your Grave,
15:25 Kill Bill, Kick Ass 2,
15:27 these movies show a lot of senseless and disturbing violence.
15:31 Directors of such films often try to hide behind the action genre.
15:36 Comparing their films with films like Mission Impossible,
15:42 comparing the kind of violence in both.
15:44 Ignoring all difference.
15:46 "Why the need for so much gruesome, graphic violence?"
15:49 "Why not..."
15:50 "Because it's so much fun, Jen!"
15:53 But there's a huge difference.
15:54 And the audience feels this difference very clearly.
15:57 Comic book violence-style fights
15:59 doesn't provoke the feeling of disgust in the viewer.
16:01 It isn't disturbing.
16:02 Filmmakers need to understand this difference
16:05 irrespective of whether they want to make crime thrillers or action films.
16:08 The filmmakers should realise that
16:10 though the film industry is a business
16:11 but cinema is also an art form.
16:13 You can make an action film artistic too.
16:16 Like Zhang Yimou's film Hero.
16:19 Counted among the most beautifully shot top 10 films.
16:23 It has top-level action sequences
16:25 with a brilliant story, marvellous acting, and mind-blowing cinematography.
16:31 You can watch the Hindi dub of this film on YouTube.
16:34 Additionally, Ang Lee's legendary film
16:35 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
16:37 It was nominated for 10 Oscars,
16:39 and won 4 Oscars.
16:46 A brilliant film and a sensation at the world-wide box office.
16:50 This film was made on a budget of $17 million
16:52 and earned $214 million.
16:55 Although box office collection should not be the metric of a film's brilliance,
16:58 I am mentioning this only to help film producers understand that
17:02 there's money to be earned from artistic films too.
17:05 Some other examples are The Matrix,
17:11 or Sushant Singh Rajput's Byomkesh Bakshi.
17:13 I hope that the action shown in the action films genre is improved,
17:17 and along with that,
17:19 efforts are put into the concept and story too.
17:21 Let's see if they actually do this,
17:24 but one thing is for sure,
17:26 competing with the popularity of action films
17:28 is very difficult for other genres.
17:31 The last and simplest reason for this is
17:32 the universal language of these films.
17:35 In the other types of films,
17:36 we need to understand what's happening on the screen.
17:39 You need to know the nuances of the language the film is in.
17:43 But not for action films.
17:45 Whether you mute action films or watch a dubbed version,
17:48 it can penetrate every region, culture, and country across the world,
17:52 and appeal to everyone.
17:54 Because of this cross-cultural influence,
17:56 the chance of an action film being profitable
17:59 is much higher than the other genres.
18:02 But I hope that the upcoming action films,
18:04 be it War 2, Pathaan 2,
18:06 in addition to being profitable,
18:08 they can offer a good experience to the audience.
18:11 But sometimes, action films can flop
18:14 if the filmmakers take the audience for granted.
18:17 That's what happened with this film.
18:20 Click here to watch this video,
18:22 to learn about the interesting formula used by film industries.
18:26 Thank you very much!
