We at Animagic are proud to present ‘Raju & I’, a 30 min animated film developed for aseema, an NGO that works extensively for street children.
The film examines the problems of underprivileged children, from the point of view of a 12 year old child.
Through the narrative, the film focuses on highlighting the rights of the child mainly that of the right to education.
This is our first long format film a total of 30 minutes in duration.
The film opened to a warm reception as the opening film of the 0110 Indo-British Digital Film Festival organised by The British Council…and went on to be screened at over 40 festivals worldwide garnering 14 awards along the way including the prestigious UNICEF-CAMPANIA Regiona Prize at Cartoons On the Bay, the first ever ASIFA Award of Excellence in India and the Best Animation Award at the 52nd National Awards.
The Alan Fortunoff Foundation Humanitarian Film Award at the Long Island Film Festival, Audience choice for Best Short Film at IFFLA and the national award for
Best animated film from the hands of his Excellency, President A P J Abdul Kalam in 2005.
The Story
Raju & I is 30 min animated film, which examines the problems of underprivileged children from the point of view of 10-12 year old children.
Atul is 12 and belongs to the upper middle class household. Inspite of staying in the city, where he routinely passes through slums on the way to school, he is too full of himself to notice poverty, or for that matter poor children.
One afternoon, life in the fast lane comes to a stop as his bicycle get punctured and he catches a glimpse of a kid rummaging through a garbage bin, who seems to resemble his friend Raju …. (Raju is a friend from his grandmother’s village where Atul spends his summer vacations).
A drunkard father, who occasionally beats him up and forces him to work, makes Raju’s world a far cry from Atul’s. But that has never prevented them from sharing some memorable and delightful times together. Imagine Atul’s surprise when he reaches home to find out that Raju has actually run away from home.
Recalling the boy at the garbage bin, he decides to go back and look for him. This search for his friend Raju opens his eyes to virtually a whole new world; Children begging, working, living in all sorts of conditions, a world that he had been seeing everybody but not noticing. To his utter dismay, every second street urchin is called Raju, from a boot-polishwala, a construction worker, a chaiwala…and he is overwhelmed with this new world when suddenly he hears a eunuch calling out to him…”Eh Raju!”. With this suddenly the circle is complete as a realization dawns on him that he is no different from these kids. This makes him introspect and wonder what he could do about this world that he has unearthed and is staring him in the face.
Atul shares his concern at school with his teacher and the whole class. The teacher in turn helps them understand the problem better. She explains about ‘The Poverty Cycle’ and the problems related to child education and labour. She then introduces them to the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of a Child’. Encouraged by the information they received from their teacher, the class decides on a project that involves finding out more about various child rights issues as their project.
Finally, through their positive enthusiasm, they help street children learn to read and write. The film ends with a hope for the future and a pleasant surprise for Atul.
Our Experience
From the day we decided to do the film to finishing it, it has been quite a journey. Initially understanding and experiencing the problem, first hand, to creating a film that dealt with it, was not easy. Knowing fully well that it was for the kids, serious as the subject was, it had to be fun.
And it was, both the final product as well the making of it.
The gallery of pictures, awards and testimonials might help you share some of these experiences with us.
2 Comments
I SAW IT TODAY…..IT WAS A LOVELY EFFORT BUT HOW CAN I SHOW IT TO MY CHILDREN?
How to download or buy this movie!