No kidding, a blockbuster for children

doweshowbellyad=0; Still from The Blue Bollywood has not really been known for its children���s films.
There haven���t been many good films revolving around children. And those that did haven���t made a big impact.
But now, Shah Rukh Khan is spending an estimated Rs 1 billion on perhaps the costliest Bollywood movie to be made so far. And it���s for children.The movie, which will release under the star���s home banner, will be in the VFX medium, using computer-generated special effects.
Does this mean a change in how Bollywood handles this genre? ���There���s definitely scope for children���s films, but the main plot has to be child-centric,��� says Anil Nagarath, secretary of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association. ���So far we���ve only had cliched fare like Maa Ki Mamta, Maa Mujhe Bacha Le,��� he says.
Talking about his project Bunty, which fell flat because nobody wanted to invest in it, Anil says, ���Bunty was a story based on a boy and had no family drama, so it never attracted any investors. But if you make movies like Masoom, Mr India, Krrish, Chhota Chetan and Makdee, which have all the ingredients to win a child���s heart, they���ll work. SRK���s project seems to have all in place.���
���Children���s films attract thrice the audience the average commercial movie can, because parents accompany children, which means increased viewership,��� says Deepak Bhanushali, chairman of the production house that released My Friend Ganesha. It makes perfect business sense to invest in this genre, he adds.
Even then, we seem a long way from making the sort of children���s films that Hollywood regularly churns out. Here, even the films inspired by Hollywood children���s films haven���t clicked.
���Indian filmmakers don���t give any importance to the genre like a Steven Spielberg would,��� says Anil. ���These films are hits there because they are made with a specific target audience in mind. Movies like Ratatouille, Happy Feet, 101 Dalmations, and Harry Potter, have been successful even among adults. We need to work out the right formula.���
But production houses here don���t see it like that. Says Manmohan Shetty, CMD of a production house, ���There���s no market for such movies because kids prefer to be entertained by movies like Om Shanti Om and David Dhawan masala movies. So why do we need a separate genre?��� Manmohan says he wouldn���t consider marketing a children���s movie because it���s too risky a venture.