Houseful. Irrespective of which of the about 450 screens you went to on Thursday night, that was the response as Harry Potter and then Half-Blood Prince released with 350 plus prints in India. Films for children are big globally. This film made a new record for opening day collections ? Rs 520 crore. Just about everyone is familiar with the top box-office grossers ? The Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Ice Age series, Lord of the Rings, The Lion King, Jurassic Park and countless others. Eight of the top 10 grossing movies ever made are children?s films. As a series, the Harry Potter films overtook all the Star Wars films when the Order of the Phoenix was released. While global cinema has recognised the enormous potential of kids as consumers, Indian cinema seems to have still not woken up to this goldmine.

Children?s films in India, usually targeting the age groups 6 to12 and 12 to 17, have been almost an apology. In India, the list has just a few names ? from the early Safed Haathi, Chhota Chetan, Mr India to the more recent Jajantaram Mamantaram, Krrish, Koi… Mil Gaya, Makdee, Nanhe Jaisalmer, Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii, The Blue Umbrella, Taare Zameen Par etc. Out of these, only the big star cast films did well at the BO (see box). ?Kids are the biggest consumers of media, be it in the form of music, dance or television. But India makes no major films for children,? says Sushovan Banerjee, CEO, Children?s Film Society of India. Despite making children?s films, none of the CFSI films got a theatrical release (see box). ?No one thought of releasing these films. There was nothing wrong with these films. CFSI was headless, and when there was an incumbent, the thinking was not towards theatrical releases,? adds Banerjee.

Stars in kid?s zone

Even those made, banked on major adult stars. In spite of few successful children?s films such as Makdee and Hanuman series, the industry prefers not to invest in films that feature children alone, instead opting for films that appeal to children as well as adults. Is the presence of an Aamir Khan or a Hrithik Roshan a must for a film to be commercially successful? Film-maker Shekhar Kapur explains, ?Using a star is all that?s been done. Why think about a great script, a new idea? To risk adverse corporate money, it is only the bottom line that matters. And if a star has in the past ensured a decent bottom line, why make life difficult? Make life easy by bombing the box office with star power.?

But others differ that it?s stardom that sells. Nafisa Ali, actor, and former Chairperson, CFSI, says, ?Taare Zameen Par could draw more people as everyone wants to catch their wonderful hero.? Is it that Indian audiences love and recognise celebrities and thus go for a film? Santosh Sivan, director of children?s films such as Tahaan, Halo and Malli, says, ?It?s obvious the marketing of a film is helped greatly by the presence of stars. And it is still the biggest crowd puller.?

A major lacuna is lack of child-friendly content. Children?s films have largely meant mythological fare in India, whereas internationally fantasy, animation and ?superhero? themes have done phenomenally well. Also, what clicks

is ? the way Hollywood tells a story.

Pottermania rules

There is a huge industry behind the making of Harry Potter. The book was a runaway success. According to Warner Bros, the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) was released with 300 prints (English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) and got a box-office gross of Rs 26 crore in India. ?It?s got a massive market. In India, we don?t have a distribution channel that will support productions of similar films like Harry Potter,? says Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, Vice-Chairperson,

CFSI. Corroborating to this, Savita Raj, Producer, Tandav Films Entertainment, adds that ?India is not a main market but the secondary market as the Harry Potter is a brand that is into merchandising as well and it?s not surviving only on the Indian market.?

Ideas are not sourced to meet up to the expectations of the audience in India except for all Satyajit Ray?s children?s films that were hugely successful. Even if there are films made on contemporary subjects, they are not released. ?It?s not a creative problem rather it?s a distribution problem. At CFSI, we have wonderful films that include the yet-to-be-released film, Trish Krish Batli Boy, where three animation characters who roam in India and carry out the local colour in the form of a folk tale. And it deserves a universal view, a concept to bring our films into mainstream through proper distribution,? says Roy Bhattacharya. Agreeing to this, lyricist and film-maker Gulzar says, ?Amol Palekar?s Dum Kata, ready for a year, has still not been released.?

To make the children?s films commercially viable, the system needs to be upgraded with various state governments pitching in for the process is what Ali feels should be the norm. ?Where cinema doesn?t reach and children don?t have access to, with larger production funds, larger infrastructure, and support from film-makers, a larger child audience can be reached.? she adds. To make the children?s films commercially viable, the system needs to be upgraded with various state governments pitching in for the process is what Ali feels should be the norm. ?Where cinema doesn?t reach and children don?t have access to, with larger production funds, larger infrastructure, and support from film-makers, a larger child audience can be reached.? Ali adds.

Tech is king

In the West, technology has become a star, and till India has access to that technical expertise and matching budgets, it will struggle to get there, say film-makers. A kid?s movie inJapan today usually means anime. ?Animation should be a growth area, but Indian animation needs to adapt animation styles. Otherwise it is too expensive and stays ?me too? animation,? adds Kapur. It?s not only the technology that?s advanced in

the West, but as film-maker Sivan believes, ?there is no question of comparing commerce unless the films lean on animation and special effects.?

The home-video segment of the children?s film is also at a low. As Hiren Gada, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment, informs, ?The home-video segment accounts for 15-20% globally, in India, it?s around 10%, comprising feature films, series ? Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse etc.?

This decade, with its innovations in production and exhibition, coupled with a younger, more experimental breed of film-makers, has seen more films for children from India than ever before. However, as global barriers are disappearing and kids have now access to all kinds of entertainment, what?s in demand is quality that matches the global standards. As Kapur sums it up, someone needs to bell the cat. ?It will come first from south India. The love and passion for films live on in their hearts. In Mumbai, people want to make life easy.?