New Delhi, Jul 18: Iconic filmmaker Satyajit Ray's popular Bengali film ‘Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen' is all set to get animated in Hindi.
The animated film, titled “Gopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya”, is being made by Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) headed by actress Nandita Das.
“We have made a beautiful animation film which I really think will do wonders for India in the field of animation.
It's a film called ‘Gopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya', and is inspired from Satyajit Ray's ‘Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen',” Nandita told PTI.
“It is a very unique animation. Usually we try to copy Disney but we don't have that kind of money or technology and we end up doing a poor man's Disney,” she said.
The 1969 film directed by Ray is based on a story by his grandfather Upendra Kishore Ray.
It is said that it was Satyajit's son Sandip who had encouraged him to make the movie, which became very popular among children.
Nandita, 42, is now gearing up for “Gattu”, CFSI's first ever film to be released commercially, hoping that the movie opens doors for many other children's films to come.
“We have more than 250 films in CFSI and some of them are fantastic. It is really sad that these films are made and not released.
Last three years have been a great learning and challenging experience for me, but one thing I feel was that we must release our films,” she said.
“Gattu” stars newcomer Mohammas Samad in the titular character and the film has been directed by Rajan Khosa of “Dance of the Wind” fame.
It follows the story of a young boy and his obsession for kite flying. It hits theatres July 20.Nandita insists that “Gattu” is trying to create a space for itself in the world of cinema as there is need for more children's films in the country.
The film has already been lauded at various film festivals.
“This is the first in the pipeline and we really hope that this is a success because we don't want to close doors for the other films.
There is a need for more age appropriate films for children, they are watching all kinds of films and we don't know what the impact is.
“It is very important we create a space for children's films. We are not saying that it is going to be huge but whatever that space is let's respect it,” she added.
The “Fire” star is aware it is difficult for small budget films to survive in today's star-driven industry but she says her aim is not to compete with them.
“We are hopeful but also realistic and we know it is tough to make space for small budget movies among big ones. We know this is a small film so we are trying to reach out in the right way.
“We are not being able to go everywhere, we don't have that kind of budget to do a road trip to five cities.
But a lot of the people in the film fraternity and politicians have supported us,” Nandita said.
The actress, whose term at CFSI ends on July 31, says this film is a farewell gift from her to the society.
