Cinema
Capturing Children's
Imagination
by Deepti Priya Mehrotra
"The
film fraternity has let children down," exclaims Nafisa Ali. "The film
world has left children behind. All the investment goes into films for
adults!" As Chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CSFI),
Ali claims to be working hard to correct this state of affairs. "I have
proposed more substantial funds for children's films, and this has been
accepted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. With bigger
budgets for children's films in the Eleventh Five Year Plan, we should
be able to attract more talent. Once the quality improves, we hope
multiplexes will agree to show children's films regularly. For instance,
there could be a 10 a.m. show exclusively of children's films," suggests
Ali.
Documentary filmmaker Samina Mishra notes that, for better or worse,
media technology today is part of every child's life. Since there is no
getting away from this, the question is how to use it in ways that
capture children's imagination and sensitize them. At present, there is
a severe paucity of good programming for children on Indian television.
Most of the time children are addicted to cartoons from the West and
Japan.
Tone C. Ronning, producer of children's programmes
from Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK), Norway, reiterates
the old truth that successful children's programmes
are basically "good stories, well told". She believes
that even though today's children are media-savvy,
"faith in storytelling is still the way to go".
Observing how children are often attracted to
commercials, she muses, "As broadcasters, we should
have humility towards the commercial channels, analyze
what qualities fascinate children, and ask whether we
can do it even better."
Nutan Manmohan, who made the award-winning children's
TV programme 'Zara Hat Ke', opines that Indian
children need a lot of "masala" (spice) in their
movies. She extols some recent films such as 'Iqbal',
'Makdi' and 'Chak De India' for getting it right.
But television programmes, according to Manmohan, lag
far behind. She suggests that in order to improve,
"Channels should be provided incentives for making
good children's programmes. A 'C-Chip' - Children's
Chip - could be awarded to the channels that air the
best children's programmes. This involves no
investment - just a grading of channels. Once it is
done, the best channels will even attract the relevant
advertisements. There is no lack of funds, but the
funds have to be directed in the right direction.
Right now, entire families watch 'K' soaps, and a
whole generation of girls is growing up behaving like
vamps, while the boys are behaving like Rambo."
Perhaps the publishing world could provide clues to
broadcasters on what attracts children. Anita Roy,
editor with Young Zubaan, says, "People are always
asking me why there is no 'desi' (indigenous) Harry
Potter. We need stories with a tight plot, but too
many people have the general attitude - 'Anything goes
- after all, it's just for kids!' There is a desperate
need for children's books with local style, content
and outreach. If well written, such books can make
national, and even international, impact. The 'local'
can actually reach out far beyond the local."
Ronning agrees, adding, "Some plots are universally
valid. We make programmes for a multicultural audience
in Europe, and my experience is that even small local
stories carry very well across borders."
India being a multicultural, plural society, the
European experience of consciously programming for
multiculturalism is very relevant for us. We need to
put in place a policy for positive multiculturalism,
which would get reflected at every level - in casting, characterization and plot. While Roy agrees on the
need to push the borders of what children need to be
told, according to her, "The pluralism in many of our
books and programmes is merely token. An easy
nationalism or secularism is propagated. Much of it
remains superficial. It is a sort of preaching of
morals." She thinks that a lot of things that are
barely ever mentioned in children's literature in
India ought to be thoughtfully included - such as
violence, swear words and sexuality.
Dr Asha Singh of Lady Irwin College, Delhi University,
speaking from decades of experience with making
children's programmes for television, notes that the
urban middle-class audience has very different tastes
from its rural counterpart. "Programmes with local
flavor have been immensely popular with rural
children in the rural areas, but not so popular with
urban children. We need to think specifically of the
categories of children when we design programmes."
With a touch of nostalgia, she adds that she grew up
watching excellent CFSI films, screened on Sunday
mornings in Sapru House, New Delhi, in the 1960s and
1970s.
Ali proudly notes, "CFSI has traditionally made films
with family values, and these have done very well. We
have always tried to show these films at a low cost.
It is important that any film called a family film
with children in mind should automatically get tax
exemption."
When Mishra objects, saying, "Feature films like 'Ta
Ra Rum Pum', 'Makdi' and 'Chak De...' did well, they
didn't need tax exemption!", Ali is quick to retort,
"There are different realities in which different
children live. A film may do well commercially, yet
most children in our country may not be able to access
it. At CFSI, we used to charge Rs 3 per child (US$1=RS
40) when we organized a screening, but even that was
too much. I told P R Dasmushi, the Union Minister for
Information and Broadcasting, that many children are
not able pay that amount, so the fee should be
scrapped. Schools should take over the financial
aspect. The state should provide financial support for
production, distribution and marketing of good
children's films.
"I'm pushing for free shows, even in multiplexes, for
children from slums. Last year was CFSI's Golden
Jubilee year, and we held a film festival at which
over 28,000 children viewed our films. This year, we
are planning a Children's Film Festival in Hyderabad.
Next year, we will award national awards for the Best
Children's Films. We're hoping that will encourage
young filmmakers to turn to this audience."
Eminent filmmakers, media professionals and
administrators had gathered in the capital for a
seminar, "Capturing Children's Imagination", held on
August 27, under the aegis of Open Frame International
Festival of Documentary Films and Television for
Children, organized by the Public Service Broadcasting
Trust (PSBT). Documentary filmmaker Samina Mishra
moderated the seminar, whose objective was to jointly
deliberate and throw some light on ways and means to
create better films and television programmes for
children in India.
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"The
film fraternity has let children down," exclaims Nafisa Ali. "The film
world has left children behind. All the investment goes into films for
adults!" As Chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CSFI),
Ali claims to be working hard to correct this state of affairs. "I have
proposed more substantial funds for children's films, and this has been
accepted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. With bigger
budgets for children's films in the Eleventh Five Year Plan, we should
be able to attract more talent. Once the quality improves, we hope
multiplexes will agree to show children's films regularly. For instance,
there could be a 10 a.m. show exclusively of children's films," suggests
Ali.