REFERENCE FILMS

REFERENCE FILMS

Before starting of with my reference films, first i would like to give a short summary of the theme of my product. The short film is going to be based on a fourteen years old girl who had to drop out of school in order to work as a maid an earn for her family. Yes, this is child labour, but in Saima's case (character's name), life is hard, but not so bad. The family she works for love's and respect's her a lot. But even then she at times thinks to herself and recalls all the dreams she had ever since she was born. But unfortunately children like her donnot get chances to fulfil those dreams. She is very creative though, she paints out something beautiful whenever she gets time. However, when after every two weeks she goes back home for a day, she makes sure she collects whatever money she is given as a privilege to buy what she wants by the owner of the house she works for as a sign of love and care, in order to buy some chocolates and sweets from the store because she knows when she enters home, she'd see her three younger siblings waiting for her to surprise them, with eyes full of innocence and hope, and once she hands over the sweets and chocolates and sees the happiness and joy on their faces, she feels all her dreams just came true. Point being, great money cannot buy happiness, but happiness can come from anywhere in any way, even to those who never get to live their dreams.

It was very hard to find films with stories of such kinds. However i managed to find three big famous films. These are Children Of Paradise, Slum Dog Millionaire and  Stanley ka Dubba.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE

Starting with Children Of Paradise, despite being a film of the small film fraternity, Children of paradise  has proven to be a very beautiful, simple and admired film by many areas of media in the world. I have happened to watch this film myself on television around four times even though it is not a Bollywood, neither a Hollywood film. The dialogue sequence and scene to shot divisioning has been done so well that even watching with sub-titles makes it feel equally interesting and heart throbbing. This film Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film directed by Marcel Carné. It was made during the German occupation of France during World War II. The film was voted "Best Film Ever" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in 1995.

The basic purpose of choosing this film as a reference film is mainly because of is characterization, and to some level, the story. This film is about a brother and a sister who belong to a very poor home, but are being provided with education by their father who works hard day and night, and the entire time, they both share one pair of shoes, a very old and worn out pair that even hurts their feet. But they don't afford to buy a new pair. The brother even runs for a race only because the second prize is a new pair of shoes. He does very well and actually wins the first prize, but he's not happy, because all he wanted was a pair of shoes. The films ends on scene where the children are very upset back home because the brother could not win the shoes, but their father while coming home has a twp pairs of shoes in his cycle basket, and one can only imagine what the reaction of the children would be when they see what their father got for them.

Basically, the concept of the small dreams and desires of a poor child who does not afford to purchase a big happiness but can get the same happiness out of something small is what made me choose this film as a good comparison to mine and the characterization and relationship between siblings is another reason of comparison since in my story the main character feels responsible and careful towards her younger siblings.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Coming to the Slum Dog Millionaire, this film has proved to be one of the greatest films of the year 2008. Being a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan, this film was a great success to both, the Hollywood as well as Bollywood industry. 'Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the Juhu slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati in the Hindi version) and exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. The movie combines elements of crime and adventure'. This particular sentence basically tells the entire story of the film. Even though this film is barely comparable to my film, i have still chosen it as a reference film, mainly just to compare the way of life of the poor and under privalidged children. That s the only aspect of common interest of this film to mine, but i still felt it is important to mention it. Actually, what really attracted me into choosing this particular media text is because of the way certain scenes are shot and the characterization in accordance to appearance, living standard and language. I feel i could make good use of such planning and shots for my film when i start my shoot.

STANLEY KE DABBA

Stanley Ka Dabba is one of the most beautiful films i have seen on the topic of child labor and is one of my very favorites. This was a low budget film as the famous Bollywood director Amul Gupte wanted this film to be out of the main stream cinema. However, Stanley Ka Dabba attracted positive reviews from critics across India. The film is based on a boy, Stanley, who is vry creative, talented and popular amongst his friends and teachers. But one thing about him was strange, he never carried his lunch box 'dabba'. There was a teacher in the school, who was known as 'khadoos' (miser) amongst all the children. He never got his own lunch, but always used to take away lunch from the students. Stanley's friends used to share their lunch with him, hiding from khadoos. Unfortunately, one day they got caught by him and he strictly told Stanley that he either has to get his own lunch or leave school. Ever since then nobody saw Stanley in school again.' Khadoos' felt bad for what he had done and left school, while on the other hand Stanley happened to win an inter-school festival prize. The same day his teacher Mrs. Rosy, who was very impressed by him, offered to drop him off. But Stanley lied and said that his mother was waiting in the car. Later on, Stanley’s secret is revealed when he rushes to a restaurant. Turns out he's an orphan who works at the restaurant and earns for a living. From next day onwards Stanley takes his restaurant left over to school and shares them with his friends, lying to them that his mother made everything. 

When he goes back home he looks at a picture of his mother who looked just like Mrs. Rosy, and the resemblance is the reason why Mrs Rosy was so special to Stanley.

Stanley Ka Dabba attracted positive reviews from critics across India. Raja Sen of rediff.com gave it a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stating that it was the "Best, purest film to come out of Hindi cinema in a while". Film critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it a rating of 4/5 calling it "heartwarming". Anupama Chopra of NDTV said - "I recommend that you make time for the film. It has an inherent sweetness and honesty that will stay with you long after the film is over" and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India wrote "Don't miss this rich and nuanced soul curry for both, the young and adult heart", giving SKD once again 3.5 out of 5 stars. It has an aggregate rating of 8 out of 10 on ReviewGang. Stanley Ka Dabba made Rs 3.8 crore in its first two weeks, eventually grossed just above Rs 5 crore.

The reason I chose Stanley Ka Dabba as a reference film is due to the concept of child labor, and care for others. Despite Stanley's financial position he still takes along whatever little lunch he has and shares it with his friends happily. In my film, my main character Saima is just the same. She works hard and in the end collects money and spends it on her siblings rather than herself. On the other hand, she is also very creative just like Stanley himself, full of talent as she is into drawing and can make beautiful art work.

Now, putting main-stream feature films aside, i have chosen a number of short films produced by independent film companies. The purpose of choosing such films is basically because these are closer o my product, not just in terms of story and characters but also film type. What i will make is a short film, just as these. So it is simply justice to chose these instead of some more famous blockbusters.  The names of the films i chose are I am Kalaam, Struggle, When the stars go down, Home sweet home and  Incredible India.

I AM KALAAM

I Am Kalam is a Hindi film directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The plot revolves around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and his eagerness and desire for education. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar, a Delhi slum boy. The film was released in August 2011.

Chhotu is an intelligent boy who belongs to a poor family in Rajasthan. Born into poverty, he is forced to find work at a roadside food stall under the owner, Bhati. Bhati is impressed  by Chhotu's astonishing abilities. Near the food stall is a heritage hotel in the palace of an erstwhile royal family. Chhotu happens to make friends with the lonely Prince of the royal family, but the Prince is forbidden by his father from mixing with commoners, mainly those as Chhotu. One day Chhotu watches President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on television and it inspires him. Chhotu changes his name to Kalam and decides he wants to meet the president. He studies in his spare time and writes a speech for the Prince for a contest. The speech wins first prize at the contest, but soon after palace guards search Kalam's room and find the Prince's clothes. Kalam is labeled a thief and the rest of the story deals with how his actions lead to his destiny. Despite being accused of being a thief, he does not reveal the source of his clothes in order to protect the Prince from his father. Kalam hitches a ride to New Delhi where he tries to meet the President. Meanwhile, the Prince tells his father that it was he who gave the clothes to Kalam and that Kalam wrote the speech which earned first prize. The nominal King realizes his mistake and sends the prince to find Kalam in New Delhi. Kalam is found near the India Gate and is brought back home. The King tells him that he can study in the same school as the Prince and employs Kalam's mother as well.

The idea of choosing this film is of course, due to the character being poor and working. But also, his desire of education can be linked to the desire of learning of my character as it was the one privilege she was given and eventually taken away from.

THE STRUGGLE

The film tells the story of a poor family struggling to survive against all odds. The children are represented as a symbol of innocence and hope, while the father is seen as a helpless individual with an empty wallet, who is well aware of the harsh realities of life.

SOME MORE REFERENCES: 

THE INCREDIBLE INDIA

Directed by Mayur Kachhadiya

Present by GRiNMATION Studio

This short movie is all about Indian culture, traditions, hospitality.

HOME SWEET HOME

The film is on a thought that education can be the guide to lead the poor and underprivileged children to their dreams, also an ironical view on how the academicians ignore the poor homes and print only the colorful and hard to attain houses thereby dividing the children into haves and have not at that tender age.