Child actors Spandan Chaturvedi, Shivansh Kotian hit on TV

This Children’s Day, TV showmakers tell us why child actors and kid reality stars enjoy so much popularity on TV, even though the big screen hardly makes any space for these young talents.
When you think about the last successful film that revolved around children, you probably would have to go back all the way to Taare Zameen Par in 2007, but while the child-centric genre remains largely ignored in movies, it’s TV counterpart is thriving.Right from Ye Hai Mohabbatein to Udaan, from Bandhan to Tum Saath Ho Jabh Apne, child actors are getting all the moolah on TV shows and even the makers of the shows admit that these young stars’ fan following plays a major part in getting shows high ratings.
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(Clockwise) Barkha Bisht with Ashnoor in Tum Saath Ho Jabh Apne, Ananya Agarwal in Bandhan, Shubham Jha from Balika Vadhu and Ruhanika Dhawan in Ye Hai Mohabbatein
So, it’s no surprise when we have dedicated cooking shows for kids, like Junior Masterchef Swaad Ke Ustaad (which aired last year), where they get to flaunt their cooking skills or the recent Dil Se Naachein Indiawaale where some kids gave the adults a run for their money in the field of dancing. We spoke to the makers and writers of TV shows to know the reasons why children are such an important part of TV programming.
Women connect with children
According to Gajra Kottary, writer, Balika Vadhu, women viewers like to watch children on their favourite shows. “Right from Ye Hai Mohabbatein and Udaan to Balika Vadhu, we have child actors doing quite well. The psychology of the makers is that women form a large chunk of the viewers and they connect with kids. The kind of emotion that motherhood evokes is very strong. Kids today are much more evolved than they were before. They are much more confident in front of the camera and we have seen that many a time, they understand things even better than adults.
The interesting bit is that they are being made to act their age, which is the reason why we have seen that after the introduction of child characters, the ratings of many shows go up. As writers, the child characters give us a lot of emotions to play with. Emotions on TV are jaded, but with kids, there is a freshness that comes into every emotion. Also, I was speaking to a filmmaker and he said that it’s not a case of one size fits all when it comes to children’s films. I think that what a five or eight year old kid would like, an 11-year-old won’t take to in the same way. It’s very difficult to appeal to kids of various age groups with a single film, since their tastes change rapidly,” she opines.
Producer Sudhir Sharma adds, “Kids form a major part of the target audience, whether it is commercials or serials, but that is not the sole criteria for including them. Of course, the story which we want to project plays a major part. For instance, in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, we showed the story of a widow and her re-marriage, but apart from that we also showed how her kids play a role in the entire equation.”
TV gives a wider scope to project relationships
Makers also say that unlike films, TV has a wider time frame to depict relationships, and it’s here that kids come into the picture. Rajan Shahi, producer of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, tells us, “Shivansh Kotian, who plays Naksh on our show, is quite popular and has been winning the best child actor award in all award functions. Today, not only in cinema, but whether it’s singing, dancing or cooking, parents are allowing their kids to do what they want. You are never too old or too young to do anything. Parents are quite encouraging these days and don’t tell their kids that they can only do this thing after a particular age. The perception has changed. TV gives a wider platform to depict relationships and children are in the centre of every relationship. Children have a huge emotional connect and their innocence always draws viewers. A movie lasts only for three hours and doesn’t have much space for depicting relationships. The shows these days are not focused on saas-bahu or just one boy or girl. They show other relationships and children are an integral part of any relationship.”
Working with kids not easy
However, the makers have to ensure that kids don’t lose their innocence amid the crazy schedules and do not get cranky while shooting. “The best trick to work with kids is to let them be natural. In one of my other shows, Itti Si Khushi, there is an eight-year-old kid who is instrumental in Smriti Kalra’s character getting back to school. I was told by some people that the kid should be more clear while mouthing his dialogues, but I told them that I don’t want the kid to do something which he won’t be able to do. A few years back, when I was directing a show with eight children, I had a word with Mahesh Bhatt, who told me, ‘To earn love and respect from kids, you have to let them be as natural as possible’,” says Shahi.
Kottary adds, “We have taken up the issue of child sexual abuse in Balika Vadhu and we had to tell the child who was involved in that scene about good touch, bad touch and how, if you are inappropriately touched, you should tell your parents or shout. Of course, we don’t tell them about the sexual angle and even while portraying such scenes, we show a silhouette and don’t actually show it in real time. Parents are there on the sets and they play an important role in helping the child understand such scenes.”
Dolly Dhawan, mother of Ruhanika, who plays Ruhi in Ye Hai Mohabbatein, says that the makers ensure that her daughter doesn’t have to work too hard for the show. “It’s because of their innocence that kids are loved by the viewers. We have many people telling us, ‘We only watch the show because of Ruhanika and the way she emotes on screen is very touching’. Initially, we were not too keen on her doing a daily soap, since we thought it would be hectic for her, but we were told that Ruhanika wouldn’t be stressed – she would get a weekly off and her shooting hours wouldn’t be hectic. Ekta ma’am (Kapoor, producer of the show) wanted Ruhanika to play Ruhi and she convinced us. Ruhanika has been given toys on the sets and she is pampered by all the actors, which is why you get to see such scenes on TV. Ruhanika doesn’t use glycerine for any of the scenes and the emotions come naturally. They are quite careful of the scenes they shoot in her presence. Once there was a scene in which her on-screen father, Karan Patel, had to act drunk, so Ruhanika was not called for the shoot during that time when that scene was shot.”
Children are the best co-stars
Barkha Bisht, who plays mother to Ashnoor Kaur in Tum Saath Ho Jabh Apne, says, “Children, as such, are a very emotional topic, and they have an instant connect with viewers. Shooting with kids is a lot of fun, and, when they are on the sets, there is a fun atmosphere all around. With kids, you don’t really need to work on establishing a bond. You just bond with them naturally. Since it’s Children’s Day today, I am trying to get an off for the kids on the show, so that they can spend the day with their parents.”
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