Filling them with courage

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, NOV. 20. The film Aao Kheylen, based on a true incident that occurred during the Gujarat earthquake, was aimed at uplifting the mood of children affected by the calamity, said the film director, Mr. A.K. Bir.

Aao Kheylen is part of Chirayu, a film compiled with works of five film makers, who tried to capture on screen the human tragedy in the aftermath of the earthquake. Apart from Mr. Bir, the other directors involved with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting assignment were -- Mr. Shyam Benegal, Mr. Santosh Sivan, Mr. Aziz Mirza and Mr. Virendra Saini. With each director making 10-minute individual segments, the unique effort has animation clips done by Mr. Ram Mohan and linked by noted film director, Ms. Sai Paranjpye.

For his segment, Mr. Bir said he picked the story of a man who watched his home collapsing like a pack of cards when the earthquake stuck Gujarat. The devastation claimed the life of his daughter, while his wife and son were rescued.

``I tried to capture the mood of children in the backdrop of the devastation and tried to uplift their spirit,'' Mr. Bir said. The movie was being shown on mobile vans in the affected areas.

On asked whether his 10-minute effort did justice to the subject, he remarked: ``For a film maker, the concept of time is tied with potential of his subject. Some subjects demand more time to deal with, while some can be told in minutes. The duration of 10 minutes was enough to capture the required nuances for this film.''

On the children's film scenario, he said the basic problem faced by those making films for younger audiences was the lack of funds. The Children's Film Society, India, alone cannot solve the problems and there was a need for an improvement in social culture and a change in attitudes towards children's films, he said.

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