Big guns showing support for children's films

It seems like children are fast gaining prominence as the preferred theatre audience. And this year saw an increasingly high number of filmmakers churning out films targetted at the kiddie crowd, every few weeks. Right from kid-flicks like Satrangee Parachute, Stanley Ka Dabba, to the recent Salman Khan production Chillar Party to an animated fare like Ashoka-The Hero, The Green Chic, 5Ters, to forthcoming 3D fare like Chhutanki and to super-hero flicks like Zokkomon, the past few months have witnessed a sudden hike in the number of movie makers tapping chidren as their key audience. In fact, even superstar Shah Rukh Khan's mega-budget sci-fi, Ra.One, is working towards luring the little ones and adults to the theatres.  

Trade analysts and industry observers too agree that never before have there been so many kiddie films releasing in a year’s time and give a thumbs up to this surge. “Kids are a very strong potential audience,” they insist. What’s more, several of these films like Stanley Ka Dabba and the more recent Salman Khan production even went down rather well with the audience. “There have been kiddie films made earlier too, but they were few and far in between. But this year, it seemed like there was a sudden surge in filmmakers taking an interest in kiddie flicks,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh. And this year has been a rather special treat, with several Hollywood films aimed at roping in kids and adults alike releasing too — including the recent Kung Fu Panda 2 and the forthcoming Harry Potter’s latest intstallment.

Attributing the interest being shown by the filmmakers in this genre to the success of the kid-flicks made in the past few years, trade analyst Komal Nahta points out that making a kid’s film also naturally lends itself to a pandora of possibilities, when it comes to the story line. “There’s a huge option available when it comes to a story line for kid-flicks and filmmakers can easily explore fantasy to more relevant issues. The lower-budgets required in comparison to out-and-out commercial films for adults vis-a-vis the returns is also another draw,” says Nahta.

Trade pundits also insist that most of these films get picked up at decent prices by television channels, especially for their Saturday or Sunday slots. “Despite the high population of children in our country, there’s always been a dearth of kiddie films. It was about time that filmmakers woke up to them and catered to their needs as an audience,” feel directors Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl of Chillar Party.

Filmmaker-cum-actor Amole Gupte (of Stanley Ka Dabba fame), however,  feels that making a kids film is no child’s play as he insists that though there are several genres to explore, one must not underestimate the kids intelligence. “Today, kids are as intelligent an audience as their adult counterparts and thoughtful, fun and well-made films are the order even in kiddie showbiz. You can’t take them for granted as an audience, expecting them to swallow every kiddie film that comes their way either,” says Gupte.

“This is an encouarging trend for sure and hope it’s here to stay,” opines actor Manjiri Phadnis who acted in Zokkomon, adding that the most interesting thing is that most of these films appeal to not only children but to the adults as well. Trade analysts too give this a nod, adding that it's a win-win situation not only for filmmakers, but also for the audiences, so let the carpets be out for the kids all year through.