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Kids never had it so good. After decades of neglect, the genre
of children's cinema is increasingly finding favour with the dream
merchants of Hindi filmdom. "Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii", "My Friend
Ganesha", "The Blue Umbrella" and now "Nanhe Jaisalmer" have all
hit the marquees within a span of two months. Never before have so
many films for children competed simultaneously with big-budget
potboilers for the attention of producers, distributors, exhibitors
and cine goers.
Despite the fact that children have a major say in consumption
patterns of a household in India and hence contribute substantially
to the success of a movie, the Mumbai studio-based Hindi film
industry has traditionally shied away from peddling children's
films.
While the idiot box has been quick on grasping the value of
catching them young and is inundated with channels dedicated to
children and the advertising world can't dream of selling a
product without getting a child's endorsement, Bollywood has been
rather slow.
According to Vishal Bhardwaj, whose "The Blue Umbrella" bagged the
National Award for the best children's film, the market for
children's films in India is huge and untapped.
Unlike Hollywood where the budget of a "Harry Potter" film can
easily compare to any top-line film, in India investing in children
was not considered wise until recently.
"It was a vicious circle. Whatever children's films have got made
over the years were low-budget endeavours of a handful,
well-meaning, creative few. With fewer outlays for children, the
outcomes have not been too spectacular and hence for most Bollywood
filmmakers this genre has remained a risky preposition," said
Bharadwaj.
Recent children's films like Bharadwaj's directorial debut
"Makdee" starring Shabana Azmi as a witch, which grossed over Rs.7
million and "Hanuman", an animated film based on the Hindu god,
collected Rs.30 million, have proved to be turning points for the
genre.
And the sheer brat power that made "Koi... Mil Gaya" humongous hit,
earning over Rs.180 million, has caught the eyes of the industry
that loves replicating successful formulae.
This spate in children's films could well be because of the recent
box office drubbing that the usual Bollywood preparations have been
getting.
"Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag" has joined the long list of big budget,
much-hyped duds like "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" and "Salaam-e-Ishq" this
year.
With high quality small budget movies doing roaring business,
Bollywood is desperate and willing to tread paths less travelled.
The industry is looking for the next flick like "Bheja Fry" that
was made for under Rs.10 million and pocketed Rs.170 million.
So much so that instead of the annual clamour of big budget
multi-starrers to release around the festival season, this year we
are likely to witness some 20 small-budget films vying for
viewers' attention at that crucial peak business period.
Given that the usual rules are not working, filmmakers are turning
to lesser-explored genres. And children's films are not all about
risk.
There have been some notable commercial successes in the past like
Rajesh Khanna starrer "Haathi Mere Saathi"(1971), Reena Roy's
"Rani Aur Lalpari" (1975) and Tapan Sinha's "Safed Haathi" (1977).
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"Nanhe Jaisalmer" has thrown yet another young talent in the form
of Dwij Yadav who essays the role of Nanhe. Critics have hailed his
natural performance. Acting is increasingly becoming a lucrative
career option for children today.
In fact, Hansika Motwani, who debuted as a child actor in "Koi...
Mil Gaya", has now gone on to play an adult even though she is just
15. She played the love interest of Himesh Reshammiya in the
just-released "Aap Ka Surroor".
Most children today are "young adults" as Zain Khan is portrayed in
the recently released "Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii" and Sana Saeed,
who brought screen father Shah Rukh Khan together with his batch
mate in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai".
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At long last, child artistes are beginning to get remuneration that
may still not be at par with adults but is at least not peanuts.
"Today a child earns Rs.15,000 for a still and around Rs.30,000 for
a TV commercial. And if an ad requires many children who just have
to be part of a crowd and needs no styling, they get Rs.3,000 to
Rs.6,000," said an ad man.
"The amount is higher for films. A lead child model gets around
Rs.20,000 to Rs.50,000 depending upon his 'grade' and
accessibility."
Amit Arora, who scouts for child models, conferred, "If a child is
much in demand, he even gets Rs.50,000 to Rs.200,000 per year,
subject to a flexible schedule. For instance, he shoots in Delhi
and dubs in Mumbai or, say, signs a contract against endorsing a
competitive brand.
"I know many parents who have taken transfer from Delhi to Mumbai
only because their child is in great demand in ads and films."
Actress Sarika, who has now taken up the cudgels against "child
labour in films", is trying to introduce a code of conduct for
child actors in Bollywood.
"It is distressing to see children being pushed to enact mentally
traumatic scenes without any counselling. In Hollywood, a
psychotherapist is always present on the sets to counsel the child
before and after the child enacts a traumatic scene.
"In Bollywood, they are 'persuaded' with chocolates! There is no
schedule for them, and their education suffers. In Hollywood, there
is a rule that only during school vacations can a child act in
films," she states.
By Priyanka Khanna
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