'Alpavirama' film festival screens movie by slum kids

Age doesn't matter when it comes to working for a cause. And six children from the slums of Delhi have proved this in no uncertain terms. On the first day of Alpavirama 2011- South Asian Short and Documentary Film Festival- organized by the film and video communication discipline of NID, of the 23 films screened at NID campus, one was made by six children.

Ruma Nair, Radha Kain, Pankaj Roy, Romi Kant, Banita Nair and Varun Haldar have not just acted in the film -Jhat Pat Ghich Pich, but have also worked on directing, scripting, dialogues, costume design, and camera operations.

Before the screening, Ruma, Radha, Pankaj, Romi and Banita talked about their experience of making the film. Haldar was unable to attend the screening owing to ill-health. The children's teacher and guide Mahima Kaur, who is also the owner of Dreaming Child Productions said, "It was during one of their workshops, that I decided that instead of me teaching them how to make a film, let them experiment by making one on their own."

All the six belong to the Harijan Basti, New Delhi and study in Vidyaan Child School, which educates them from nursery to class V, post which they are sent to different schools for further education. The children have shot another film- Humari Duniya- on water shortage and are working on a documentary.

While Jhat Pat Ghich Pich belonged to the South Asian competition section, NID alumnus Hitesh Kevalia's film -Is Modh Par Kuch Nahi Hota- another touching movie, fell under the retro section. Talking about his film, Kevalia said, "I started making this film during the second half of my diploma studies at NID and took a month to finish its script. My film mainly concentrates on life's smaller things, which we usually ignore." Kevalia's film had received the Best Fiction Golden Conch award in 2006 at Mumbai's International Film Festival.