INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD

As a popular art form, film is inextricably linked to a society's economic, cultural, and political spheres. Cinema screens as a cultural mirror can create a more powerful atmosphere for culture than mere reflection. The cinema adds to a culture's self-image by infusing, rather than simply documenting, daily experiences. The present study, thus, explores social processes and societal norms as reflected in the two path-breaking films of 2024; both set in villages of Madhya Pradesh, India, with particular emphasis on the Semiotic Analysis of ‘Laapataa Ladies’ and ‘Stree 2’. The paper aims to qualitatively analyse the major symbols used in the films while defining the visual narratives, to assess whether the symbols used in films reflect society correctly, and to understand how these symbols are reflected in social media discourse. The qualitative interpretation, which draws on Semiotic Theory, emphasises the use of Signs and Symbols that have deeper meanings and serve to illustrate the movie’s social commentary on visual constructs. The results show that both films entertain and spark important conversations about identity and belonging, which supports the idea that films reflect and influence society's views. Using Social Media Discourse Analysis on posts related to Laapataa Ladies and Stree 2, the present study further examines several key themes, audience reactions, and the overall narrative constructed around these films, which contributed to the public discourse, followed by the media hype