While a thousand films are made annually in India, barely 30 are children’s flicks and only a handful of them get a decent release. And no, we’re not ‘kidding’
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 14, 2017)

Celebrated poet and writer Gulzar, while addressing a festival called Jashn-e-Bachpan had said, “It’s not that writers don’t love kids. To identify with children, you have to put yourself in their place and get involved with them. This doesn’t happen as often as it does with adults. And it is because of this lack of identification that so few films are being made or fewer pieces of lyrics written for kids.” Evidently, his words ring true. And as you read this, the 20th Children’s Film Festival of India — that started in Telangana on November 8, concludes today and not many are even aware of it.

Gulzar leads the pack of torchbearers of children’s content across literature and films in India. While mainstream Bollywood has a countable number of movies that cater to children, Hollywood studios have continued to flood the Indian market with their animated and feature content aimed for the knee-high audiences, year on year. Odds are possibly stacked against desi filmmakers, which coaxes them to think more mainstream and adult entertainment.

For example: In the 1960s, Satyajit Ray toyed with the idea of making Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. The fantasy adventure took several years in the making and on release, it worked commercially and also won the Best Picture Award at the National Film Awards in 1970. It took over three decades for Shwaas, another child-focussed film, albeit in Marathi, to win this coveted award. Moreover, it was also India’s official entry for the Oscars. Incidentally, the first film to ever win the National Award was Shyamchi Aai (1953), which revolved around a poor child and his mother. While it’s often debated whether a film made for kids only centres around them or appeals only to them, what is indisputable is that children’s cinema in India is not only underfunded, but is also under-evolved and under-consumed.

Institutions like the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) have been struggling to create and present content catering to children despite subsidies from the government to champion the cause. Rajan Khosa’s Gattu was among the last films that came out of CFSI. Shilpa Ranade’s Goopy Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya, an animated take on Satyajit Ray’s Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, made rounds of the international festivals, but failed to get a theatrical release in the domestic market. Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dhanak, which won the National Award for Best Children’s Film and Grand Prix for Best Feature and Special Mention of Children’s Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 2015, met with a similar fate; the only difference is that it didn’t get a wide enough release.

Not surprising then, that Indian filmmakers claim that lack of funds, poor distribution and exhibition machinery, and the general apathy of parents towards children’s content are together responsible for the despicable condition of the genre that continues to remain out of bounds for them. Hollywood, of course, continues to milk it, quantitatively and qualitatively, with its far superior content. About a dozen movies are released in India annually: The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, Boss Baby, the superhero franchises and many more.

The home-grown market for children’s films is at an alarming low. According to certain trade researchers, it contributes not more than 0.2 per cent of the total box office collections every year. Amole Gupte, director of Stanley Ka Dabba and Hawaa Hawaai, says, “Most people don’t know when Sniff!!! released.”

Amole Gupte adds, “Sniff!!! was treated like a lawaris bachcha; a child buried before it could even breathe. The studio I partnered with had no faith in the film, although it backed some good adult films like Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and Newton. They didn’t bother marketing Sniff!!! or even letting it run in cinemas for more than a week, although we had floods in Mumbai that week and a curfew in the North, which means the footfall was low at cinemas anyway. When I showed it to children at pre-booked shows, they applauded it. I’m aware a lot of critics didn’t like it, but Sniff!!! was designed for kids and they liked it. Sometimes, adults have to keep their adult perspective aside. As a filmmaking industry, I have realised that we don’t respect children. We’ve failed them. You ‘kid’ them into watching what you, as adults, want to consume. As an adult, you get the scale of visuals you paid for and the child gets to see some fantasy. The fact that we use phrases like, ‘Don’t kid me or kid it down, yaar’ in our daily lingo shows how dumb we think kids really are when that’s not the case. If mainstream comedies are what we expose our kids to, how do we even expect them to engage in something that’s remotely meant only for them? They won’t know how to appreciate that. The only other bracket of films they can possibly enjoy is the fare that comes from Hollywood; though not every animated film or a film with kids is for them.”

Here’s a typical chicken-and-egg situation where the filmmaker blames the market forces and they push the blame back on the filmmaker. Amidst this tussle, children have found avenues to entertain themselves: TV shows, cartoon channels with dubbed versions of decade-old Chinese, Japanese and European shows and the web-streaming spaces apart from various films that are made in Hollywood.

Back on the home turf, apart from Sniff!!!, Ruchi Narain’s Hanuman Da Damdaar was the only other film that catered to little ones this year. When asked about the odds piled before a filmmaker backing children’s content, Ruchi points out that animation of international quality is expensive and the budgets in India for animation films are not even a small percentage of the Hollywood counterparts.

She elaborates, “Hollywood films can afford high budgets because they have a worldwide box office. Take The Jungle Book for instance. A Hindi animation film can’t be made at even five percent of that cost. While trying to get Hanuman Da Damdaar out, I realised that we were literally like trying to carve a market. It’s not a ready space waiting to consume children’s content. A lot of the mainstream films in India are made in a way that children can also accompany their parents to cinemas. As filmmakers, you are competing with the biggest Hindi blockbusters apart from Hollywood films for your kids’ viewing. Actually, there is no competition from Hollywood because they are the only ones who generate some differentiated content for kids. We make one-off films. Studios don’t largely encourage our films. Bodies like the CFSI are also given such tiny budgets that the outcome doesn’t match the content the kids are already consuming. At cinemas, children’s films are given morning shows, which are not only sold at lower ticket rates but are also difficult to fill because kids don’t come unaccompanied to a cinema hall. And on weekdays, most parents are away at work. So, monetarily, a kids’ film doesn’t make much money. In my case, the cinemas revised our shows to the evening slots, which was a relief.”

Even as filmmakers, few possess the ability to reach out to children as equals, without sermonising or giving them life lessons. A memorable children’s film, like Chillar Party has the ability to transcend age barriers and reach out to adults and children alike. Few would know that the film nearly didn’t take off for the lack of a director. Most filmmakers who were offered to direct, rejected the project citing the lack of a star face or a ‘compelling’ story. Eventually, Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl, who wrote the movie, decided to direct it together. “It’s an unfortunate scenario. Producers’ interest in backing any film is backed by box-office returns and we have many examples of monetarily successful kids’ films. That is the reason we see fewer kids’ films although there is a huge potential,” concedes Nitesh, adding, “I will credit Vikas for getting Chillar Party off the ground. We need more people with that conviction to push a film with 10 children and a stray dog. Unfortunate situation is that budgets are not decided by the script alone, it’s also about the star. With that in mind, what budget do you think a kids’ film will get? A kids’ film can have a star like Hrithik Roshan doing Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish which were happily consumed by them. As a parent, I don’t show every Hollywood animation film to my seven-year-olds and I am sure many feel that heat, too. We tap holiday weekends two years in advance but leave the summer vacations without releasing anything for kids.”

Writer Salim Khan, who wrote Mr India, one of most well-recalled children’s films ever, with his then-partner Javed Akhtar, agrees with Nitesh’s point of view. He firmly believes that a film with kids alone will find it difficult to secure any financial backing. “We have to acknowledge that a film sells on a star. Children’s films often lack stars and that’s why often they don’t even take off. A kiddie film with a star has more chances of working at the box office. Look at Haathi Mere Saathi, or for that matter, even Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The films had stories for children and were about children; but they had the backing of a star which got them a huge push. If people want to make films for kids, get a star to back it because remember, a child doesn’t watch a film alone. That is the intention we had when we wrote Mr India. Its sequel too should apply the same formula,” he says.

While filmmakers are still not rushing to make a film for kids, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has digressed from his usual lavish story-telling ways to make a simple drama, Mere Pyaar Prime Minister with kids from a slum in Mumbai. He believes, “You can’t direct children. They will direct you. They teach you so much about your craft. I had a wonderful time making my film with these little boys. It’s a story that has something for the child and for the parent. I’ve attempted to blend their interests in.”

Even though the current scenario of kids’ films seems bleak, future holds some hope. Vishal Bhardwaj, known to back children’s content, is constantly working on stories that can please a tot. Ruchi is also planning her next animation film for kids. And Amole, despite his last experience with Sniff, is raring to make an even better children’s film that before. He sums it up saying, “The only thing left out of a child’s plate is his or her share of entertainment. Even cartoons like Oggy And the Cockroaches are Bollywood comic caricatures of stars which don't satisfy kids. It’s such a shame! We don’t know how to respect our children. What you sow is what you will get. How can you expect kids’ cinema to work wonders here when it lacks basic encouragement from the parents in the audience? You want a desi Harry Potter without investing in it. I have been fighting a losing battle. In an insecure industry, children’s cinema comes below regional cinema in the pecking order. I am not Alice in Wonderland. I know making my next kids’ film will not be easy but my conviction in that cinema is full, not token. I don’t ‘kid’ the audience.”