Kishanji, Namaste
The above tiny man, with the mike in his hand and the camera next to him, certainly seems out of place. But guess what, they will soon say that he is the ‘Speilberg’ of Bollywood. This new director, has so much potential, it’s unbelievable. Well, after all he is only 10 years old.
Yes, Kishan Shrikanth is only ten years old and his first film is due to be released this April. Though it looks ridiculous, this kid is a supposed ‘genius’. Having acted in 1000 Kannada Soap Opera episode, and 24 regional films, this experienced kid does indeed show a lot of promise.
Kishan’s first venture is going to be a Kannada film, C/O Footpath, and guess what, he has co-written it too.
But, as usual I am going to be critical. 10 years old, he has made a career in acting, why the hell does he want to start directing? And who in the right mind would invest 8 million rupees on him? According to me it’s a publicity stunt. It has everything that media wants, youth, weirdness and intrigue. The only thing it doesn’t have is sex-appeal. Hey but wait, Hollywood might be inspired by this and Paris Hilton might be paid to direct. And hell she does have it all.
Anyway, even BBC has been seduced by this stunt. It is definitely smart, but how long is it going to last. This BBC article about Kishanji is worth reading. I bet the producers, and the master-minds behind this are praying that their 8 million rupees is worth.
This kid seems to be a flash in the pan who ended up in the right place at the right time [tautology, not tautomerism, anish :-P] .
Irrespective of whether this little dude has got the stuff or not, I feel that there is a huge amount of talent and skill in the youth of a country that boasts of a population of a billion (and counting).
Even if it’s only for a few seconds, a bright spark such as this lil G gives a lotta people hope, amusement and some other feelings. Some expect instant failure, some instant success. Either way, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.
hi Anish. I can see why you would be cynical and i have to agree with you on some level. Children like him and to draw a reference, Dakota Fanning, have the potential to be great in their feild. I think the problem is, is that the media’s, and essentially the people’s expectations of them need to grow as they do. Because “cute”(eg.Macaulay Culkin)doesn’t quite cut it once you’ve become 15. So to expect this kid to become Speilberg is to, well expect a ten year old to be speilberg! So unless these children turn out to be incredibly brilliant actors or directors,they are letting down the public and this image they have of them.
The pressure of the media is intense, to subject a 10 yr old to it is not helping the growing youth at all.
Goodbye
You know, yet again I disagree with you, seems to be getting to be a habit. I read this article a couple of weeks back on the beeb, and the first thing that came to my mind was admiration. I mean, realistically, we have no real exposure to the quality of his work, how many of us have watched a kannada serial?, so its impossible to really judge.
Secondly, as harry said, we can’t really expect him to produce a great film on his first try, maybe the really important word is potential. He might have the potential to grow and we can’t take that from him. About the media and the beeb, well that’s what news channels do, they look for interesting stories, something wacky, that catches the eye, and this fits those requirements. Let’s keep an eye open anyway, in 20 odd years, we might be watching a movie made by this bloke, you never know what could happen.
Normally, i too would be quite cynical of a ten year old directing a whole movie… i mean, its quite ridiculus! Co-written as well? Hello?! what do ten year olds write about… “My Dog”?
But then, i was quite proud of the little fellow… after all, he does come from my neck of the woods… the movie is bound to be quite bad (i kinda find all kannada movies hillarious) but still… i cant help but feel proud of him! 🙂
hey anish.well written and researched.must say i agree with ju,harry and kaushik in that this kid cd have tremendous potential!i cd never be so vain as to undermine any one’s talents or for that matter,even idiosyncrasies.hm, best of luck to that little guy, seeing Indians grow surely does us all good!
p.s:paris hilton does have it all,..except well,brains.
fukin stupid kid
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/1216/