BANGALORE: A chat with the nine-year-old Kishan from Bangalore. How old are you and what is the movie you are directing all about? I am nine and the movie I’m directing is about slum children. It is called Care of Footpath. It highlights the issues, needs and talents of underprivileged children. The star cast includes street children. Tara aunty also is acting. Is it a full-fledged feature film and how long have you worked on it? It’s a two-and-a-half hour film. I started working on the story when I was eight. The shooting for the film is now under way.

As a nine-year-old do you think you’ll be able to visualise and understand the nuances of film making? The film I’m making is about children and I think I understand their lives quite well. As far as the directing goes, this is the first time I am at it and I do have some problems. So I use a feedback monitor to see the shot that has been taken. This way I am able to visualise the scene. I then decide if it needs to be shot differently.

Are children generally a lot smarter today than they were earlier? Yes definitely. It is also one of the issues dealt with in the film. It features a slum child who takes his SSLC exam when he is 10-years-old. I think greater exposure, television and better education have all contributed to making children a lot smarter today. It is possible that there will be more and more child prodigies.—Dawn/Times of India News Service