Bollywood seeks awards for child actors

Meena Iyer / TNN / Jan 24, 2006, 00:05 IST

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Producers in the film industry are of the view that it is high time special awards are instituted to honour child actors.

MUMBAI: Bollywood has finally woken up to the power of children. And why not? A financial magazine recently revealed that every year Rs 120,000 crore is spent worldwide on children between eight and 12 years in different categories. Of this, Rs 150 crore is spent on food and entertainment.
According to producers in the film industry, one way to tap this teen power would be to encourage child artistes.Subhash Ghai (Iqbal), Shailendra Singh (Hanuman) and Applause (Black) are all of the view that it is high time special awards is instituted to honour child actors.
Given the fact that performances by Ayesha Kapoor (Black) and Shweta Prasad (Iqbal) won unanimous critical acclaim this year, the demand seems even more justified.
Raveena Tandon, ex-chairperson, Children's Film Society Of India, said: "There should be a Best Child Artist award for child artistes who have to compete with senior actors in the best supporting categories."

Prasad who got recognition for Vishaal Bharadwaj's Makdee and more recently Nagesh Kukunoor's Iqbal also welcomed the idea. 'Child actors work doubly hard...
...
We have to balance our studies and acting careers, which becomes taxing at times. A special award category for child actors will be extremely encouraging."
"It's time we recognise children's talent on all platforms be it television, music, films or other fine arts. All commercial film and television awards should add a Best Child Actor category to their existing awards to encourage talented kids," said Ghai.

Shailendra Singh of Percept Pictures linked the demand to the purchasing power of children, which is evident as they influence decision-making. "Children should get their rightful recognition in films. A special award will give them a sense of accomplishment."
Kunal Khemu, who began his career as a child actor and was nominated for a National Award for Zakhm feels, "Most of the popular award ceremonies ignore a child actor. Forget giving us a separate award, we don't even get invited to these functions."

About the Author

Meena Iyer

Meena Iyer is Editor, Bombay Times and a film critic for the Times of\nIndia. She's a veteran movie journalist - friend of the actors, confidante\nof the actresses, a champion of scoops on what's hot and what's not in\nBollywood. At home, she enjoys her cuppa Madras 'kapee' more than the\nEspresso in shopping malls or 'cutting chai' on film sets.

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