Water; An attempt to understand cinema

I was just listening to the music of Water by AR Rahman.. Melodious music no doubt from the master, but this post isn't about the music. Instead I was thinking about the theme of Water directed by Deepa Mehta. This is the last in the trilogy after Earth and Fire. I am not a great fan of Deepa's work, & happened to see the above 2 movies for their controversial themes, especially Fire. I watched Earth for Aamir Khan..!..
Water is the movie which was disrupted by Bajrang Dal activists in Varanasi, protesting against the way the hindu widows were being betrayed by Deepa Mehta.
I saw the trailer of the movie in some website, I am not able to recall, some days back & it did have something to do with how a child is married & she becomes a widow at a young age (played by Lisa Ray). She can then no longer marry & is forced into isolation till the time she happens to meet John Abraham & I am assuming the rest of the movie is how they overcome the odds and get married.

This triggered a thought process, where I was wondering what the real purpose of cinema is;
is it for entertainment or does it serve a kind of larger social cause.
Can it trigger an awareness of the society's problems, or is it that directors like Deepa Mehta want to sensationalise some incident and gain popularity (this was the main grouse of people when she released Fire, which did not address the hidden-under-wraps issue of lesbians).

Why do people see cinema?
I for one think it is mainly entertainment & I am sure for most of the masses would not want to spend 50 rs for being lectured on morality or see some serious issue after spending a hectic day at office or work.
Is it any wonder that No Entry a laugh-a-minute comedy is the biggest hit.. if so why do people like Deepa Mehta make these kind of movies?

Change

Hey
I have changed the look and feel of the blogpage... the old one I thought had outlived its exsitence..
Do let me know how this feels..?

Currently reading..

Heat & Dust by Ruth Praver Jhabvala...
the Booker Prize winning novel...