No child’s play: Tolly filmmakers on directing little stars

How Satyajit Ray managed children on film setsA child is always like a sponge — ready to absorb information and learn new tricks. And this trait is often considered a boon by filmmakers. They can easily mould child actors to fit their on-screen characters. Of course, their innocence needs to be respected, while a little pampering goes a long way in getting things done.On Children’s Day today, we spoke to directors to know how they overcame the challenges of working with kids. Here’s what they told us. Read on...
Srijato couldn’t understand a scene could be shot from many angles: Parambrata Chatterjee
Director: Parambrata Chatterjee
Film: Sonar Pahar
Child actor: Srijato Bandopadhyay
Character’s name: Bitlu
The scene and why it was difficult: Children have their own logic and anything happening beyond that logic is difficult for them to understand. We adults do certain things without questioning, but children refuse to do so. I faced the same thing while directing Srijato, as he had his own logic. When we were shooting with Tanuja aunty and him in a room, he would roam around and not sit in one place for long. He wondered why the camera doesn’t change its position while he was changing positions! He used to get bored of sitting in the same place actually. After delivering a scene, he would get upset if we wanted to take a close-up shot. His logic was: Nile toh shot ta, abar keno ek e shot nicho? That a scene has to be shot from different angles was something he couldn’t understand and given his age, it was natural.
How did you get the child actor to perform? After two days of trying to take the shot, I had to literally spend half a day sitting with Srijato and explaining to him the process of how a shot is taken with different lenses and about the camera zone. After that, things became easy and he used to ask me whether close-ups had to be taken or whether he is in the camera zone.

I asked Nur to imagine I’m dead: Manas Mukul Pal
Director: Manas Mukul Pal
Film: Sahaj Pather Goppo
Child actor: Nur Islam
Character name: Chhotu
The scene and why it was difficult: There was a scene in the film where Chhotu was to ask his elder brother whether they will get to eat if their father dies. For that scene, Chhotu had to have tears in his eyes. That was important and we thought of taking a close shot of his gloomy face. But while shooting, Chhotu couldn’t make that gloomy face and bring tears. I will not allow any of my actors to use glycerine, as the tears have to come from within. This gets reflected on the face. I still remember we were sitting for hours as Chhotu was failing and I was hell-bent that the tears have to come naturally.
How did you get the child actor to perform? I told Nur to think about how in real life his father too died, so that tears come naturally. But still he failed. Then I asked him to think about whom he loves the most and to think he/she has died. To this, he said he loves me the most! Then I told him to think that I have died and within two minutes, I could see tears rolling down his eyes. We got our shot and later I told him that I had to die for it! I have realised child actors are like a clean slate and with the right motivation, you can get the best from them.

I sat with Ishan and explained the situation to him as if he was my age: Anindya Chattopadhay
Director: Anindya Chattopadhay
Film: Manojder Adbhut Bari
Child actor: Ishan Mukherjee
Character name: Kandorpo Narayan Chowdhury
The scene and why it was difficult: Most of the scenes with Ishan were to be shot at night and he used to fall
asleep. He had a shot with a horse, which was unruly on the day of the shoot. Before him, Abir (Chatterjee) had a shot with the same horse and was thrown off. Ishan had a shot with the horse and we all were tense. Abir somehow managed the horse, but it was not expected from Ishan. He had dialogues too while riding the horse, which was becoming more unruly. But we had to take the shot as all arrangements were made and we were in the middle of a jungle.
How did you get the child actor to perform? I sat with Ishan and explained the situation to him as if he was my age. I told him that if we don’t take the shot then there will be a huge loss of money and we would have to manage it. Within a minute, I saw a change in Ishan’s face. He was tense, but he told me not to worry and that he will pull it off as there are all nets around and if he fell, it wouldn’t hurt. Finally, he got the grip of the horse and pulled it off easily.

I scolded Devdaan to make him cry for a scene: Riingo
Director: Riingo
Name of the film: Neel Rajar Deshe
Child actor: Devdaan (Arryan) Bhowmick
Character’s name: Raja
The scene and why it was difficult: There was a scene where Raja was being chased by his father through a sugarcane field and once caught, he was to confess about finding a kidnapped boy who was abducted by his father’s friend. This was an intense scene where Devdaan had to act with Ashish Vidyarthi. In that scene, we needed him to cry and explain to his father why he had to help the kidnapped boy, despite knowing that it will
put his father in trouble. For a newcomer, it was perhaps the most difficult scene in the film.
How did you get the child actor to perform? We briefed him at first and when I found him slightly confused, I scolded him and was a bit rude. That broke him and the tears rolled down. We shot it instantly. After the scene, when everyone applauded, he understood my actions and then he truly broke down. This time, it was tears of joy!
How Satyajit Ray managed children on film sets...

Jethu never used to scold any child on the sets: Soham
I was five years old when I worked with jethu (Satyajit Ray) in Shakha Proshakha and I still remember how he used to pamper me on the sets. I was very fond of ice cream then and he made sure I got one whenever I wanted. His way of working was simple. Jethu used to enact each scene with an actor three to four times before taking the final shot. Dialogue delivery too was rehearsed before the final take. Jethu never used to scold any child on the sets as his patience level was very high. His strict instruction to his directorial team was that every child actor should be comfortable and in a happy frame of mind. Otherwise, he/she won’t be able to deliver his/her best. I remember the costume team of the unit forced me to wear a jacket, which was a little tight and I was feeling uncomfortable. So, I told jethu about it and he immediately asked them to change it. The dialogue (Ami ek nombori jani, ami du nombori jani, ami teen nombori jani, tumi koto nombori jano dadu... ek nombori, du nombori na teen nombori?) of mine was crucial. It was shown to me by jethu several times before he took the final take.

Manik jethu never treated any child actor as a child’: Kushal Chakrabarty
I was six years old when I shot for Sonar Kella with Manik jethu (Satyajit Ray). The best part about him was that he never treated any child actor as a child and used to have a conversation with them just like any other person. I remember after we completed the shooting of Sonar Kella, he called me to his house one day and told me that the changeover of jatiswar Mukul (my character) to the normal self of Mukul was not getting registered. So, he needed to take another intense shot for which a set needs to be made, which would cost `20,000. He said he will take the plunge only if I assure him that I will deliver. I gave my nod at once as a child actor will always do what their director tells them. So, we shot that scene at Indrapuri and the shot was there in the film — the scene where I was crying inside the house. Manik jethu used to enact each and every scene with an actor several times so that it gets registered in their minds.