'Dexter' to 'Drishyam': Reel-real debate once again as ghoulish murders strike a chill

moving picture has long had a profound influence on society, sometimes salutary, occasionally sinister. Last week, this grip tightened with murders most foul  including that of a woman allegedly killed by her partner and her body sawed into many pieces.

Life imitates art far more than art imitates life, wrote Oscar Wilde in 1889. With 29-year-old Aaftab Poonawala citing American TV series Dexter as his inspiration for allegedly killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and butchering her body, that oft repeated line from 133 years ago seems right on money.

From Dexter to Drishyam, two crimes played out, one recalling American TV show and or a hit Hindi thriller. In Ghaziabad, police unravelled a four-year-old crime with a young woman's testimony of how her mor killed her far. body was buried in a cement pit under a house, much like what happened in Drishyam.

Research shows that people who are predisposed to violence use films as y tend to have a cathartic effect on m, said Dr Beulah Shekhar, professor of crimilogy at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Crimilogy & Forensic Science.

"That catharsis provides psychological relief to people through open expression of strong emotions," Shekhar told PTI.

As details of his crime shocked country, Delhi Police officials quoted a seemingly remorseless Poonawala saying he killed Walkar after a quarrel over marri and idea of chopping her body into pieces was inspired by "Dexter", centred around a serial killer. He evaded arrest for six months and was arrested last Saturday.

People getting inspired from films to commit a crime and getting away with it is t new, but gory and still developing story of murder and meticulous planning by accused have sent chills down spine of many.

While Walkar killing is most recent, and its aftermath most horrifying, re have been several instances of reel inspiring real.

Film historian S M M Ausaja recalled "Parwana", a 1971 psychological thriller film starring Amitabh Bachchan as an infatuated lover-turned-murderer that came under fire for its 'negative' impact on psyche of cinemagoer.

In film, Bachchan's character kills Om Prakash in a running train and this was recreated in real life by a man, he said.

"At time, that murder was replicated in a similar way after seeing film. re was a controversy and a lot of people had asked for a ban on film," he told PTI.

In December 2010, a husband in Dehradun killed his wife and cut her body in more than 70 pieces. Police said he was inspired by Oscar winning film Silence of Lambs that shows Anthony Hopkins as a cannibalistic serial killer.

In shows and films, said crimilogist Shekhar, that part of killing and mutilating is somewhere "rmalised or made cool".

And n re are numerous heist films. An ICICI bank official, for instance, last month looted Rs 34 crore from a bank in Pune, reportedly motivated by globally hit Spanish series "Money Heist".

According to Ausaja, it is incorrect to blame cinema for heius crimes that happen in society.

You have to draw positive influence out of cinema, literature, and art. Only a sick and abrmal mind will draw such parallels and do things in real life. It is t right to blame films. Wher international or Indian stories, a person is bound to look for an escapist way to commit a crime and if he is getting an example of it, he will try to replicate it, he added.

Drishyam, first made in Malayalam in 2013, seems to have influenced more than one crime.

In 2013, a man in Kerala killed his bror following a fight and later buried body in backyard of his home with help of his mor and wife. Drishyam was a hit, spawning remakes in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.   "Drishyam" universe continues to expand with a Hindi sequel, also starring Devgn, releasing on Friday.

Abhishek Pathak, who helmed second part of Hindi version of Drishyam, said it is unfortunate people get inspired by crime films to do "appalling" things and re are many good things too.

Crime films are re to give you edge-of--seat experience and t get inspired by any of things that we do. It is for you to come and experience and enjoy. re are or movies that we make to get inspired and that should also be taken as an example, director told PTI.

Blaming entertainment industry flat out for such "inspired" crimes is t way forward.

"Criminals get what y look for, y draw what y look for. We cant make a blanket statement," Pathak said

Sociologist Sanjay Srivastava believes art and life usually exist in a loop rar than a simple cause and effect relationship, but entertainment industry can't be held responsible for such heius crimes.

"We should be thinking of broader context: why do men behave way y do (and how do ideas of all-powerful man circulate)? How are relations constructed se days? If more young women chose live-in relationships outside marri, are y also constrained to keep m secret and hence t be able to talk to family and friends in case of problems? se are kinds of things we should be focussing on," Srivastava said, referring Walkar killing.

In director Neeraj Pandey's view, media is responsible for blowing things out of proportion, using names of films or shows to purposely draw parallels with real-life incidents.

filmmaker said he would often receive forwarded messs about news reports of a "Special 26" kind of robbery, a reference to his 2013 film about tricksters who pull of a heist by posing as CBI officers.

"re is also a CBI officer in film. Why don't people learn from him as to how to detect something? You cant be selective in assuming things. re is an antagonist and re is a protagonist. It is up to people who to choose...  it is for consumers to figure out right and wrong," Pandey told PTI.

In Beulah Shekhar's view, media literacy is need of hour, said Shekhar. "It's duty of parents and adults to talk about media because films might show how to get away with murder. It's important that we help children to t be passive consumers of media and films but analyse m," Shekhar said.