Cinema has a major role in nation-building. Keeping it in view and with an aim to give a boost to children’s films, Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) is launching a nationwide initiative of reaching out to tier-2 and tier-3 towns across the country with its ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’ programme.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the National Children’s Film Festival being held here, Shravan Kumar, CEO of CFSI, said that this would be a big initiative that would take off in May from Jammu and Kashmir. “We will be showcasing all our films in the districts of Jammu and Kashmir in May. We have tied up with the Secondary School Board of the region for this. Films will also be screened in schools with digital projection system.
The director of Information and Public Relations Department there has also expressed great enthusiasm to take this forward.”
Tie-up
The programme would be taken to other States throughout the country. “If we are able to penetrate remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir and let the children see what is happening in other parts of the country through the films, this will make them come into the mainstream. It will be a kind of a new nation-building exercise,” he added.
“The CFSI is also tying up with multiplex chains for screening of children films that can be made available according to demand during lean show timings. CFSI has partnered with Cinepolis India for this outreach programme. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with them in August last. They have started showing our films in their morning shows. We are also reaching out to other multiplexes,” he said.
The autonomous body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which has made films like Gattu , Pappu Ki Pugdundi and the animation film Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya , was also looking to partner with production houses.
“We are tying up with good production houses. For instance, Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures is coming up with three children’s films, a Sikkimese film Pahuna , a Konkani film and another Hindi film. Other production houses are also showing interest in children’s films now because of the potential and the current vacuum of content in that genre,” Mr. Kumar added.
The current system of film distribution was the reason why even if there was a good content film, without a star presence, it did not get a proper release.
Creative marketing
“That is the present market scenario which film-makers of children’s film have to encounter it. I am not averse to going by the market trends. At the same time, we must not give in to the system which has tried to corner creativity. We are trying to overcome it by leveraging on creative marketing strategies,” he added.
