BENGALURU: Jay Gholap, founder, The Open Film School Bangalore, says that the films are the best medium to convey any social message. “Many might not read books and also books do not convey the emotions the way a film does.”
Meera Haran Alva, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, says that it is really a good initiative because, nowadays, the only medium to communicate with people is the social media and one-minute videos are also good considering the short attention span of people.
But is it too short to convey the message? Dr Kaushik from YI says, “It’s not too short. Advertisements that you see on TV are less than 60 seconds. A message can be conveyed in 10 seconds as well.” Meera says, “My only concern is how they will portray the issue because this is a really senstitive issue.
It should also be contextualised according to the culture. People should be able to relate to it when they see it... they should think that this could also happen to my child.” Also, people are aware of the generic information.
So, it should be able to give some specifics, she says adding, “It has to be age appropriate. You need to use different approaches when you are catering to parents, teachers and children. For parents, it would be about what signs to look for and what to do when your child tells you. For children, it would be about what’s the appropriate behaviour, what they should do for help if they feel uncomfortable and whom to call for help.”
Ameen adds that the team will exercise care in this regard. “The language and scenes will not be objectionable. Most films will be for children, and a few only for parents,” he says.