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R A JALAN
Crusading for children’s films

He is an industrialist with interests in ceramics, mining and the like. He’s also a producer of films exclusively for children. Though he began with a film for a universal audience, called Harmonium, in Bengali, way back in 1973, his very next venture was Safed Haathi, a children’s film directed by Tapan Sinha. Enthused by the tremendous international success of the film, Jalan asked Tapan Sinha to direct yet another kiddie film, Aaj Ka Robinhood, stressing on environment and protesting the fossilised system of formal education. Extracts from a chat with the crusader for children’s films...

How did you get interested in films for children?
I always felt films for children was a crying need. I was not consciously interested in cinema per se, since I had my other business interests. It was at a party when the issue of films for children arose during a discussion. I came to know Tapanda and admired his work. Over the years, through my association with him, I turned producer. The film was Harmonium. It was not a film aimed at children but it did very well. Then came Safed Haathi, followed by Aaj Ka Robinhood. The critical success of these films consolidated my confidence in such cinema. But I am unable to produce such films too often. So, there will be long gaps between my films.

How would you define a children’s film?
A children’s film is not only a film aimed at children as the audience. It should be enjoyed equally by adults who accompany the children. For children, such films mean pure entertainment with a subtle underpinning of a social message. For adults, these films should strike a chord, taking them on a nostalgic trip back to their own childhood.

How do you feel about the movement for children’s films in the country?
Movement? What movement? There just isn’t any movement to speak of, the CFSI notwithstanding. There are too many bureaucratic wrangles. Too much of red tape one has to wade through to get a script approved. Filmmakers shy away from making films for children because financiers are not willing to put in money if the project is not financially viable. A distribution and exhibition network is almost non-existent. But one still can, if one wishes to, augur a change, trigger a movement in the right direction. I should know. I have done this myself.

CFSI rejected the script of your new film, Anokha Moti directed by Tapan Sinha...
That’s right, it did. The problem is the red-tape and one cannot place the blame on the chairperson, whoever it may be at any given time because the rules are taken to be sacrosanct. They do not allow for the least flexibility. How can any scripting committee anywhere in the country sit on judgement on a script written by Tapan Sinha who has made not less than 40 films in so many years? Yet, I have no complaints, for what I was asking for was a joint venture, as with Aaj Ka Robindhood. If it did not materialise the way I wanted it to, never mind. It offered me greater scope to hone my producing and distributing skills to find a platform for the film in international film festivals. I have done it before. I am confident of doing it all over again.

How did you manage to persuade an ailing Tapan Sinha to take up direction again?
He was totally unwilling because he has been ailing for several years now. Besides, he appeared to be frustrated over the shape of his last series of short films, Daughters Of The Century. It was an ambitious project and he had high hopes for it. But the project fell through after he had shot three or four of the stories. I coaxed and cajoled him to make another film for children. I asked him to choose a story. He took two steps backwards and one step forward. He was not confident about his physical state. "What if something happens before I can end the film?" was his dominating thought. Ultimately, I succeeded in persuading him to write his own story after he narrated the idea to me. It was set against the backdrop of the sea. I felt it was a fascinating subject. He wrote the story and the script. He has also done the musical score for the film which is his normal practice.

What is the film all about?
It went through several changes in its nomenclature to begin with. First, we decided to call it Moti. Then, we changed the name to Gulabi Moti. But since the Magic Pearl (English title) has magical powers, we finally settled on Anokha Moti. It is a fascinating tale set against the backdrop of the sea near a fishing village. A little girl discovers a magic pearl among her father’s catch one day and their lives change forever. Tapanda has done a wonderful job and so have the children, all of whom faced the camera for the very first time. I was actively involved in the shooting at Shankarpur, a beautiful sea-bordered village near Digha in West Bengal. Shooting is now complete and we hope to release the film in February.

Why do you always work with Tapan Sinha?
I like his films. Having got to know him personally during the making of Harmonium, I also became familiar with his technical crew. They always work together and have built an excellent rapport over the years. I do not know many people in the film industry professionally. So, we have mutual trust in each other. He works economically and is an extremely disciplined person. His work-schedules are planned to the last detail. So, why gamble when you already have the best?

We believe you have forwarded many suggestions for the promotion of children’s films in the country. What precisely are these suggestions?
I have been crusading for the cause for several years. I have forwarded the following suggestions:

The government should give subsidy/grant to producers of children’s films. All children’s films should quality for automatic telecast on Doordarshan. Children’s films should automatically be entitled for exemption from Amusement Tax perpetually in all states, so that families can afford to see the films. These films should be shown in all theatres owned by the state and union governments on the basis of sharing collections. Other government agencies, such as the Ministry of External Affairs, Field Publicity, Human Resource Development, Education and so on, should buy 16mm copies of these films on payment of higher rates of royalty than currently applicable. More theatres with limited seating capacity should be constructed by the government for such films on the basis of sharing collections. Doordarshan should upgrade royalty rates for these films which should at least be at par with royalty now being paid to commercial cinemas. And ticket rates should be lowered for children’s films

You are also trying for a change in the rules for the last date of entry for national awards, aren’t you?
Yes. I am. I find it extremely strange that the regulations of eligibility of films for entry to the national awards leave a very long gap between the cut-off date for the films and the cut-off date for entry. Item No. 11 (a) limits entries to only "those feature and non-feature films that have been produced in India and certified by the Board between January 1 and December 31 of the year previous to the one in which the awards for the films are to be announced." And, as for the last date for receipt of entries goes, item 13 states: "The last date for receipt of application alongwith the print in the Directorate of Film Festivals shall be the June 15 of the year in which the awards are to be announced." This means that a film completed and censored will have to wait for five-and-a-half months for entries. It also means that films made during this long gap of five-and-a-half months will automatically be excluded, and be made to wait for another year-and-a-half! I have recommended that the date of the Censor Certificate be pushed from December 31 of the previous year to April 30 of the year of the award, that is, the current year. That way, more films will find an entry. The Eastern India Motion Picture Association is following up on it, after the letter I’d sent to the Directorate in September last year.

How do you feel about the record-breaking success of Safed Haathi and Aaj Ka Robinhood in the international arena?

If you want one word, GREAT. It has given me the impetus to go on. Cinema has brought me the fame I could never have achieved through my business interests. So, I am not here for money. I am here because this gives me a different kind of satisfaction. You may like to know that of the eight international festivals we have approached so far, we have already got a positive response from three for Anokha Moti. I have been able to sell my two earlier films to eleven countries! Can you beat that? Both Safed Haathi and Aaj Ka Robinhood were sold to London, Adelaide, Belgrade, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Canada, Sweden, Angola, Denmark and Berlin. Who says children’s films don’t sell? Aaj Ka Robinhood was actually in the running for an entry into the Guinness which finally did not materialise. If one is determined, I do not think there is any uncertainty in the world of children’s films even economically speaking. I now want to prove this and wish to make one children’s film each year.

Shoma A Chatterji