- Sat, 31 Jul, 2010, 2:45 am -

|| Jharkhand to witness India's first ever ‘street film’ festival for children ||
Ranchi: The day long “SADAK CHHAP FILM FEST” will be organized on the 11th of February ’2010, Thursday, at Chadri in Ranchi. SADAK CHHAAP FILM FEST is India’s first ever street film festival movement for children in slums and villages.

“The idea of “SADAK CHHAP FILM FEST” is to take the children's films to the doorsteps of those who cannot afford to go and watch them in the multiplexes.” Says Pankaj Dubey, Founder SPRIHA. A post screening discussion with Children will also be organised by SPRIHA, the organizer of the festival.

SPRIHA is committed to develop ‘Empathy’ and ‘Sensitivity’ in children with tools like ‘film screening’, ‘story-telling’, ‘igniting imagination workshops’. This film festival is supported by Children's Film Society of India (CSFI, Govt. Of India)and World Cinema Portal DearCinema.com. In Ranchi, the event is being supported by the Jharkhand chapter of Youth hostels Association of India and Kuchh Khas Events as Community partners.

Screening of highly appreciated children films like Choo lenge aakaash and Uranchoo would be done to discuss gender, environment, disability, human kindness and many issues centered to the heart of the children. . This is with respect to this context that SPRIHA has taken an initiative to organize a film festival cum workshop for children living in urban slums and in villages regularly by the name of “SADAK CHHAP FILM FEST”.

Sadak chaap film fest is an ongoing festival which will take place in different places of the country. SCFF has already been organised in the New Seemapuri slums in Delhi, Dharavi in Mumbai and New Maruti Seva Nagar Basti in Banglore. It has received tremendous community response so far.

In Ranchi, the screening of films would be followed by a ‘Painting workshop’ for children where children would get an opportunity to express their feelings on the canvas.

Synopsis of the films to be screened

• Directed by Virendra Sahni, Choo lenge aakaash is a film about a 9-year-old girl – Sonu. She lives with her parents and grandmother in a remote hamlet nestled in the hills. Sonu is a conscientious student and quite the leader among her circle of friends. But she has one handicap: a bad limp — the result of an attack of polio. Her parents are anxious for her and constantly worry about her future. This disturbs Sonu. After all, she helps in the home as best she can. So what, if at the end of the day, her leg aches a bit, and needs to be massaged? And yet she has a secret longing. Sometime back she met a nomadic shepherd.

A wise, old man with laughing eyes and a thousand and one stories! It was he who whispered in her ear, that every mountain was meant to be crossed.
The film is also about Gagan — the young prankster of the village. He hates school and therefore is always in conflict with Sonu. Till one day, a major crisis occurs in the village and all fingers point to Gagan as the culprit. But Sonu, proves that Gagan is innocent. Gagan is overwhelmed and gallantly asks Sonu what he can do for her in return. It is then that Sonu expresses her secret desire.

• Uran Choo has been directed by Shivendra Sinha.
A tragic comedy around the adventure of two dwarfs, Pappu and Jumman, whose united friendship, helps them face a hostile world. They quit school because the other children kept scoffing at them. They accept one job open to them which is to work in a circus. Although they can sing and dance and entertain the circus manager and others, even the audience, treat them as oddities of nature, parading them to raise laughs and ridicule. Disgusted with the absurdity of their lives, the two flee the place on their mini motor-bike. The circus manager sends the police after them. A chase across land, sea and air follows, with an absent-minded goofy policeman in town. It ends in a home for handicapped children where the dwarfs see the plight of others and decide to help and