The Hindu Business Line : ‘U’ for… unimpressive?

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), Nafisa says she is 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 fo r 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 Nafisa. 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 sensitise them.

The art of story-telling

Currently, 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 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), 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, analyse what qualities fascinate children, and ask whether we can do it even better.”

‘K-soaps’ to ‘C-Chip’

Nutan Manmohan, who made the award-winning children’s TV programme Zara Hat Ke, opines that Indian children need a lot of masala in their movies. She extols some recent films such as Iqbal,Makdi and Chak De India for getting it right. But television programmes, says Nutan, 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 relevant advertisements. There is no lack of funds, but the funds have to be directed right. 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, says Anita Roy, editor with Young Zubaan. “People are always asking me why there is no desi HarryPotter. 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.

Tone 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 multi-culturalism, which would get reflected at every level — in casting, characterisation and plot.

While Anita agrees on the need to push the borders of what children need to be told, she feels “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.” 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, she adds.

Rural vs. urban

Dr Asha Singh of Lady Irwin College, Delhi University, speaking from decades of experience with making children’s programmes for television, notes that urban middle-class audiences have a different preference compared to rural audiences.

“Programmes with local flavour have been immensely popular with rural children, but not so popular with urban children. We need to think specifically of different 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 at the Sapru House, New Delhi, in the 1960s and 1970s. Nafisa 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 Samina objects, saying, “Feature films like TaRa Rum Pum, Makdi and Chak De India did well, they didn’t need tax exemption!”, Nafisa 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 when we organised 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."

Free Shows!

The State should provide financial support for production, distribution and marketing of good children’s films. “I’m pushing for free shows for children from slums even in multiplexes. 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 give national awards for Best Children’s Films. We’re hoping that will encourage young filmmakers to turn to this audience.”

Eminent filmmakers, media professionals and administrators gathered in the Capital for a seminar, “Capturing Children’s Imagination”, held recently under the aegis of Open Frame International Festival of Documentary Films and Television for Children, organised by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust .

— Women’s Feature Service

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