Amole Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai is about dreams and fulfilling them. The filmmaker tells Karan Bhardwaj about his affinity for kids and how his movies are throwing light on children’s plight
If you go by his looks, he might appear to be tough and sturdy but filmmaker Amole Gupte, known for making sensitive films for children, is as tender and soft at heart as a vulnerable child. Talking to him can change your perspective on children, who according to him, belong to the most ignored community.
“They don’t vote, so there’s nobody to think about them,” says Gupte, who recently lost his father. Though he has been associated with children-related programmes for many years, he consciously uses his platform of cinema to raise issues ignored so far. “I am baffled to think the amount of pain children go through when I get scared to see them in horrible circumstances. I just empathise with them and write my stories. My films show the cruel mirror to society. People have made documentaries but they have limited audience and impact. How will change happen at the grassroot levelsIJ” he observes. He takes little pride in the fact that his past movies like Taare Zameen Par and Stanley Ka Dabba compelled society to restructure their thoughts on children.
“I feel overwhelmed when a rickshaw puller from lucknow or a kabadiwallah from Indore tell me how they started perceiving their kids differently after watching my films. Taare Zameen Par led the review of the evaluation system. It’s good that a process has begun,” he says.
Gupte’s next Hawaa Hawaai deals with underprivileged kids, their dreams and fulfilling them. The film features his son Partho Gupte accompanied by Saqib Saleem. Ask about Partho and he says he is taken aback by the child prodigy. “Partho is a bundle of surprise. Just when you think you have understood him, he stuns you. He was barely six when he expressed his desire to learn guitar. He’s a left-handed guitarist so his trainers wanted to make him the right-handed one. But he managed somehow. He governs his likes and dislikes. He has a habit of asserting himself, expressing opinions and implementing them. I am surprised by his choices. He listens to Jim Morrison, reads all his poetry. He tries to extract tonal sound in his music from Eric Clapton’s guitar. All this freaks me out since I never pasted Jim or Eric’s poster in my house and we never discussed the kind of films he likes to watch,” he says.
The filmmaker also expresses his apprehensions about reality shows claiming to promote ‘talent’ while ignoring the process of inculcating values. “Through my movies, I have always tried to enhance the process of values. I ask people not to indulge in children’s war. People have started celebrating successes. You can take your child to these reality shows but be aware that the child doesn’t get fatigued or depressed. If the child is participating for achievement and not the process of learning, then it’s sad. Today, nobody goes deep into the value system. You make children stars on shows but television has no recall value. It can impact his life in a negative way. After Stanley, Partho got hundred offers for films and endorsement but we didn’t accept anything since this is not it’s all about. We shoot every Saturday for four hours as a child activity. Their big vanity vans and illustrated style of shooting can twist a child’s brain. So when a three-year-old dances to Sheela Ki Jawani with all make up done, I think there’s something wrong,” he says.
On his affinity for children, he says he refused to grow up long back. But he has problem in classifying cinema. “There’s a great discrimination in describing children and associated materials with them. If you are jumping and roaming in jungles, it is meant to be for kids. My films are for children as well as for adults. I am not judging other people’s cinema. According to my sense, I should make films that could table out some value for children and not just entertain them,” he says.