Violence begets violence… is a widely held belief. But each time our world is rocked with appallingly brutal incidents, we tend to shift the blame to the easiest target; cine-world. Cinema, which has a finger on our pulse, often sends our pulse racing in not so desirable direction.More recently as an eight-year-old boy near fatally attacked a five-year-old girl in a school in Panchkula and a 21-year-old man assaulted two girls with power chainsaw in Andhra Pradesh in a classroom, once again the chatter is growing. Accusatory fingers are rising and turning point blank towards Dhurandhar, Animal and many of the ilk. Right now, the female version of the mafia world, Akka, too is coming under flak.Without a doubt, graphic violence depicted in cinema is rising many notches above the usual. Multiplier effect of shock value of repugnance is being exploited in full force. Whether the aim of that violence is to titillate or a serious creative requirement of the script is always open for debate and often becomes the reason for critics to take polar opposite positions. But is it fair to co-relate brutal happenings in the world we live in to certain onscreen examples? Does violence in cinema breed violence in life?YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who loves to stoke the embers of controversy at the slightest provocation, thinks so. He can’t resist but blame films like Animal and Dhurandhar, which he believes have given the “template” to the Andhra chainsaw attack accused. Expectedly, Rathee is not alone in voicing this sentiment; many others nod in unison and wholeheartedly. At a party I attended recently, city’s elite were busy dissecting violence in cinema and how it is creeping in our real lives affecting young, vulnerable and susceptible minds. Severed heads, mutilated bodies and blood soaked canvass have become almost De rigueur, so have our thick-skinned responses. What should ideally make us flinch with horror at best/worst only makes us flinch or squirm. The fact that ultra-violent films find resounding successes at box office is proof that shock value of violence is the new default setting of entertainment. And there is more than one defender of makers whose films, according to one school of critics, glorify violence. Noted director Ram Gopal Varma is one such vociferous champion. To counter Rathee’s criticism, he came up with a rather strange analogy with his rebuttal running, “Blaming films for rise in violence is like blaming Ramayana for rise in kidnappings.” Interestingly and expectedly the verbal sparring didn’t end with his repartee. Prakash Raghavadass, director of upcoming Tamil film Theenkirai, also chipped in. His observation reminded us that in Ramayana, it was the villain who committed the kidnapping and he was ultimately killed. He further wrote, “Today in the new-age, high-octane action films, it is the alpha-male heroes themselves who are responsible for all the violence and sexual assaults.”Indeed, as we the people of India are in a moral flux, our onscreen heroes too are no longer Satyakaam variant of virtues personified.Clearly few things not only in Animal, Dhurandhar, Akka and a host of other movies can be deemed problematic. Much can be said about makers’ responsibility too. But the very fact that all of these films are blockbusters is also a reflection of what people want to see. Besides, let’s also not forget much of violence ridden cinema is adult rated content, meant strictly for adults. If the eight-year-old boy indeed sought inspiration from the violence in films it, it’s not really the makers’ responsibility? World over, there are parental controls. So, if in India children have access to cinema not meant for them…. the buck should stop with parents and not filmmakers. Men like American director Robert Aldrich argued that real-world violence inspires cinematic depictions rather than the other way around.Whether cinema mirrors reality or shapes it, is the classic chicken and egg argument that has been revisited time and again. Back in time producer actor Rahul Mittra reminded us, ‘You can’t expect a holy sermon from a film that is called Animal and is ‘A’ rated.” in a more recent interaction, talented actor Amit Sadh too saw no problem in being part of such a film. The bloodshed you see in Quentin Tarantino’s much lauded cinema comes from his belief, “cinematic violence is an artistic palette rather than a reflection of real-world horror.” Kabir Singh and Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has in interview after interview defended the violent impulses of his protagonists. Undeterred by criticism, he has already threatened to turn more violent with Animal Park. And his fans perhaps couldn’t be happier…. and therein lies the rub. Society, of which viewers are an integral part, can’t escape its share of blame for savouring blood-curdling violence and putting its stamp of approval on blood-soaked signatures of cinema. Time to remember, we all, parents, citizens, teachers and media professionals make society, not just filmmakers.