Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Aamir Khan's TARE ZAMIN PAR is the film that is being directed by him, and revolves around the problems that an autistic child faces. Vishal Bhardwaj made MAKDI, which dealt with dreams and aspirations of a child, and how the child handles the issues relating to witchcraft. Shekhar Kapoor has still to do an encore of MR. INDIA kind, and still to make a movie that could pass comparisons of MASOOM though he has attained an international stature. Gulzar still counts KITAB as one of the better films that he made and for Mahesh Bhatt, he still has to attain the same level of success that he could do with HUM HAIN RAHI PYAAR KE. And Ajay Devgan still continues to search for that elusive film that could stamp his seal as a director of accomplishment by revolving his films around the aspirations and expectations of a child.

World over, as well, the kind of success that the films where children have a major role to play attain, is also a phenomenon that is a pointer to the fact that if children are there in the film and if the story line is good it would become a hit. That is precisely the reason why directors continue to make films with children as major players, either to make their mark as accomplished player, or to get out of the rigmarole of a flop director. Even Shah Rukh Khan did the same for his magnum opus ASOKA, it is altogether a different matter that the character of the child got overshadowed in the stardom, and the result was there for all to see.

This is also precisely the reason why Yash Raj Films is experimenting with this genre probably for the first time on a full scale with TARA RUM PUM PUM. Children appear as the USP and the brand ambassadors for the film, because the word of mouth publicity that a child is able to generate for a film cannot be matched by any PR and media campaign for a film by any other conventional means of communication. From the promos of TARA RUM PUM PUM it is also evident that for the first time beautiful animation graphics have been intelligently used for a song and this would add further footfalls for the film, as this would be the USP that the children would talk about among temselves in their classes and their hangouts.

The actors and actresses also agree readily to be a part of the project, which may have profuse presence of children because it provides them an opportunity to bring about a change in the image that they have of themselves in the eyes of the public. An Amitabh Bachchan could get a softer side of himself reinforced in a strong manner through the ' Mere Pass Aao Mere Doston' in Mr. NATWARLAL. Even Hollywood has been impressed by the decisive influence that children can have, learning from its experience of super success of SPIDERMAN-2 that it is now timing the release of SPIDERMAN-3 in India at the same time when it is being released all over the world. Children as a category therefore have come to stay, and they cannot be ignored at the peril of the film fraternity.