CFSI to release unseen films in phases

Mumbai: Connoisseurs of classic cinema will be treated to a host of rare films, which include creations of noted directors Shyam Benegal and Riturparno Ghosh, as the Children's Film Society of India is set to release a rich package of 251 films in phases.

Having been produced since CFSI's inception in 1956, these children films failed to get released in theatres due to reluctance of production houses, which preferred commercial films over them.

A few prominent films awaiting the release are Benagal's "Charandas Chor", "Heerer Aguthi" by Ghosh, "Woh" from Buddhadeb Dasgupta and 'Laadli' (The Darling) by Mazahir Rahim, among others.

Many of these movies, made in as many as ten regional languages, have won prestigious national and international awards.

The scope of meaningful cinema and the distribution system were not democratic and children filmmakers did not get opportunities to screen their films in cinema halls, which further discouraged the making of children films, according to CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar.

"Initially, we shortlisted 100 films from our archive and converted them into digital cinema package or commonly known as DCP-2K that enables films for theatre screening in multiplexes," Kumar told PTI.

The reels of these films were converted into the digital format and stored in the National Film Archive of India. "Gattu" was the first film that was released in July 2012.

Kumar said CFSI was also in the process of developing a dedicated website for information related to the screening of films. "We would also ask schools and residential associations to screen these films on their premises," he said.

On the delay in getting these films released in earlier years, Kumar said, "There were two reasons. First, the system was not democratic and the concept of 'might is right' ruled and only commercial films received favourable treatment."

He said the advent of "corporatisation" of distribution and exhibition is the second reason that "has pushed over the scope for meaningful cinema including the children's cinema." 

The unenthusiastic approach towards children's films can be gauged from the fact that CFSI produced only 260 films in the span of 59 years, beginning with "Jalpari" in 1956 and the latest being "Happy Mother's Day". 

Interestingly, the pace of production at CFSI has now gathered steam with four films having already been completed while three others are under production since the beginning of this year.
Meanwhile, CFSI's decision to screen the unreleased films has evoked a mixed response in the industry.

Noted script writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar said, "This could be a good move, but all will depend on the quality of films because the quality will only decide effectiveness of a film."
Observing that children's literature, knowledge books, documentaries and entertainment films are more or less neglected, Akhtar expressed the need to create a niche market for them.
"Government must realise that now such things are driven by market forces and it should develop market (for them). When government will be able to provide infrastructure such as theatres etc., plenty of filmmakers would come forward to make films," he said.

Former CFSI chairperson Amol Gupte, who scripted "Stanley Ka Dabba" (2011) and highly-acclaimed "Taare Zameen Par" (2007), welcomed the CFSI move, saying, "This decision reflects in more power being given to children." Hailing the CFSI move, film certification and media laws expert, Teena Sharma said, "We hardly have films for kids in India. As we do not have much children's films, our kids are watching foreign cartoons and films, which is not very healthy for Indian culture," she said.

Sharma debunked the argument that there is lesser viewership for children's films and they fail to make impact at box office. "Our government should make sure that at least 30 per cent of total films produced are for children," she added.