The News Minute | November 14, 2014 | 10.30 am IST
Promoting movies with violence and 'inappropriate' content as kid's movies, what film makers can learn from Vinayan's experience
Malayalam children’s movie ‘Little Superman’ has been pulled back from movie theatres in the state after protests from many quarters.
The director of the film, Vinayan, took to Facebook, saying that the film would be withdrawn from theatres and that the ending of the film would be changed to be more age-appropriate.
The reason for the ban was the excessive amount of violence that is shown throughout the movie, which was advertised as a children’s movie. The movie was also criticized for showing inappropriate romantic scenes between children.
Parents and adults in the state questioned the promotion of the film as a children’s movie when it clearly showed gruesome scenes of people being murdered and the child taking a weapon. The protagonist of the film is a small boy who gains super powers. It was marketed as an action-packed children’s film. However, the children got more than they bargained for with disturbing imagery forming a major part of the film.
Long-jump athlete, Bobby Aloysius went on record to condemn the film and has even lodged a complaint with the state’s Child Rights Commission.
This is not the first time that movie makers have been criticised of promoting films as ‘children’s movie.’ In 2003, a family drama movie by director Sibi Malayil starring actor Jayaram was also widely publicised as children friendly movie. The movie title ‘Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum’ was the story of sibling rivalry in which the elder child poisons and kills the younger one with pesticide. If that was not all, the movie had scenes of the child in jail, and the trauma he goes through.
Senior theatre person Arundhati Nag, also a member of the Censor Board of Film Certification is of the opinion that children must be shown certain kinds of things only when they are “equipped” to deal with, and have developed an adequate sense of what is right and wrong. “As a society, we must have our antenna on (when we expose children to certain things). In India, we seriously need to think about the art we present to the next generation, which will be India tomorrow,” Nag said.
The CBFC is also under fire, for officially certifying the film as ‘U’, meaning fit for Universal audience. Cautioning that sometimes what adults perceive as “cute”, a child may actually not perceive the same way. “It is important to go into the head of a child,” she said.
The CBFC chief Leela Samson however said she was not aware of the issue.
IANS