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MUMBAI: "There is a dearth for good kids' programmes and
movies in our country" was a fact that was reiterated time
and time again on the second day's session on 'kids' programming:
A child's right to entertainment', at Frames 2003.
The speakers included City Pride director Prakash Chapalkar,
New Era school principal Gool Ghadiyali, DECODE Entertainment
executive producer Neil Court and Gulzar.
'Children's right to entertainment' was driven home to the
audience by kids themselves through delightful mime enactment
which stressed that they do not need the predictable Hindi
films as the only means of entertainment but want programmes
that they would be able to relate to, programmes that do not
talk down to them but talk to them. Footage of CFSI movies
like Malli, The Goal (which incidentally won
the National award) and Kabhi pass Kabhi Fail were
shown to bring to light the steps taken by them in this direction.
The session moderated by Children Film Society of India (CFSI)
chairperson Sai Paranjpye conspicuously focused on marketing
CFSI movies and the milestones achieved by them. What needs
to be done at the television front was an area that was completely
ignored.
Emphasizing the fact that entertainment of the right kind
is crucial for kids wellbeing, she pointed out various problems
faced by the CFSI which need to be addressed immediately
* Inadequate financing for children's movies. Since CFSI
functions under the government, it has a meager budget of
Rs 3.5 million for a 90-minute film.
* How does one decide the language in which these films should
be made so that it reaches the desired audience?
* Inadequate finances affect the quality of movies churned
out. CFSI is unable to deliver movies like Shrek or
Lion King due to its inability to fund technical extravaganzas
and special effects.
* Distribution of children's movies is a major stumbling block.
·* One cannot charge a child more than five rupees for a children's
movie, thus making the prospect of making such movies financially
unviable.
* Inability to promote /market the movies.
Highlighting the CFSI's milestones, Paranjpye elaborated
on the recent acquisition of five Iranian films, which have
been dubbed into Hindi. " We need to provide kids with a variety
of programmes centered around diverse topics like adventure,
sports to name a few. Value based films are not the only mode
of entertainment for kids," she said.
In an effort to call upon distributors for CFSI films, she
stressed: " 34 per cent of the population is below 14 years
of age. This segment will be the future customers, so investing
on them and their requirements is not be a bad business proposition
at all."
New Era school principal Gool Ghadiyali presented her views
about what was lacking in kids entertainment today. "With
parents glued to soaps on television, the child is left with
no option but to watch these serials. Serials where women
are depicted either as evil human beings, forever conspiring
or are shown crying for whatever reason. Children pick up
these ideas, which is indeed unfortunate."
"It is now a necessity to have good films which have a story
to tell, good ambience, absolute identification with children
and known actors and actresses to interest the kids,"she added.
City Pride director Prakash Chapalkar delved into the exhibitor's
perception of distributing children films. Interestingly,
he pointed out: " One should not look forward to making revenue
from children's films. No commercialization of the movies
should be allowed. As in while showing the movie you cannot
have companies dealing in kids' products advertising and promoting
their stuff."
Interestingly, students too presented their demands to the
forum. Their demands centred around
* Out of 100 channels, there are only two - Cartoon Network
and Nickelodeon for kids
* The eternal debate - are movies the only form of entertainment
for kids and are there any movies just for kids * Why can't
there be some movie channels catering solely to kids choice?
* All Hollywood kids movies are readily available in video
libraries, Why not CFSI movies?
DECODE Entertainment executive producer Neil Court spoke about
the kids TV business in Europe and US and how it was undergoing
a crisis, due to faltering economies of the west. "Due to
the slump in the market, there is a decline in special programmes,
as a result advertising has fallen and to allocate the limited
budget, kids programmes are the usual sufferers," he added.
Talking about the potential of animation industry and its
growth in India he said that his company DECODE was keen on
expanding its operations in the country.
The session was aptly summarized by famous lyricist, poet,
director and producer Gulzar when he said " Entertainment
for children should be such that it captures and holds his
attention with pleasure. We need to make films with a passion,
zeal and honesty that would truly entertain a child. Panchatantra
has been handed down generations for now, but unfortunately
its narration has not changed. We need to realize that the
children of today are aware of things around them and can
no longer be taken for granted."
He also called upon CFSI to take up the responsibility of
making films that would appeal not only to the kids but their
parents as well.
He also called upon CFSI to take up the responsibility of
making films that would appeal not only to the kids but their
parents as well.
However the how good were these CFSI movies was brought under
serious doubt when Sahara TV's commissioning editor Ashok
Agarwal pointed out that the run of CFSI movies on the channel
for a year received very poor ratings when compared to the
Simba series and other kids programmes on the channel.
Now isn't that food for thought?
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