The man who shot to fame with his brainchild, Taare Zameen Par, was in

RELATED ARTICLES After Bollywood, Dolby sets sights on south Indian films IMAX plans 17 India theatres by 2013

Hyderabad to attend the 16th International Children’s Film Festival. Although he was part of an open forum discussion on whether films should be part of school curriculum, it was at the story-telling workshops with children where he was in his elements. He took some time off to speak with Swati Anand of Financial Chronicle about his love for children.

n While Taare Zameen Par portrayed children in a refreshingly realistic manner, the same cannot be said of other films that Bollywood churns out…

The portrayal of children in Bollywood is pathetic and unreal. I think it is made by unfeeling filmmakers, and who knows, maybe they treat their children like that.

n Children are exposed to a whole lot of things today on television — from regressive family dramas to reality shows that don’t seem to exercise too much censorship. What do you think can be done about this?

There’s a whole lot of smut on television that children simply shouldn’t be watching. There seems to be no governance on what goes on television and the thought of children watching it all is sickening.

Parents must exercise a level of censorship at home, but I don’t think that happens often enough. The family structure seems to be crumbling in our cities. I now find families only

on soaps.

n Don’t you think children’s films as a category leave a lot to be desired in India?

I personally don’t think that children’s films are a separate category. We just have to be more sensitive to them and make films that they can watch too. And that starts with respecting them.

In the media, for instance, I often see people refer to children as kids — just a small reflection of how little we respect them. I take classes at Whistling Woods and other film schools and then when I conduct a workshop at Pali Chimbai Municipal School in Mumbai, I find that I don’t have to dumb down the basics of film-making at all.

n You’re also known for your art. What are your views on having art as a subject in schools?

Art used to feature as a subject for children right up to class X.

In the past 10 years, the subject has vanished from class IX and X and in many cases, even in

high school.

Art gives children the freedom of expression. And we don’t judge children on the basis of their work. So, art classes just require a child to be artful.

n What can we expect from your forthcoming films?

There’s Stanley ka Dabba that will be out soon. And all I can tell you is that it’s about children and lunch boxes (laughs), and about unity in diversity.

Then there’s Sapno ko Ginte Ginte. And don’t ask me about the cast of these films. They obviously have children, but there are some surprises too.