Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Saturday conceded that cinema may have a role in the violence occurring in society, but it cannot be said that movies were the source of the same.

Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, said that people watching a film should not merely see it, they need to understand it.

The minister, who is also an actor, said that he cannot say violence be not depicted in movies or it be reduced, but the people need to understand that what is being shown is “not for entertainment and they need to learn from it that such acts are not good”.

“Don’t just see the film, understand the film,” he added.

Gopi was responding to queries from reporters here on the role of cinema in the instances of violence in society.

Earlier this week, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had said that Malayalam action movies like RDX and Marco are in a big way “encouraging people, especially youngsters, to become violent”.

Gopi also said that every child born into a family is an asset for the nation and everyone, including the political parties, government and the people, should work together to ensure they all have good physical and mental health and can realise their full potential.

“Each child is born into the family called nation. None of them should be lost,” he said in an apparent reference to the death of a schoolboy due to injuries suffered in a clash between students near a private tuition centre in Kozhikode.

Muhammed Shahabas, 16, who had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, died around 1 am on Saturday.