Amole Gupte Unveils The Dark Side Of Kid Reality Shows, Demands Law Against Long Working Hours

The whole debate around the ban of children reality shows in India has managed to throw the spotlight on issues that definitely need attention. While the industry is divided into two when it comes to reality shows, some think that it gives a good platform and exposure to children, which also helps in boosting their confidence.

While all of that is accepted, do we know about the grueling work hours that the kids go through? Are there any proper rights in place to stop them from working for long exhausting hours?

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To shed some light on all these issues, director Amole Gupte chose to make some valid points. A DNA report has quoted the director making some legit points on the same. Talking about the long hours that are involved, Amole said,

¡°I¡¯ve been crying myself hoarse on the issue of children being forced to participate in reality shows for years. But to simply blame parents¡¯ ambitions for this cruel and inhuman practice is absurd. Parents, who pressurise their children to excel on reality shows, are as much victims of a system that fosters and encourages unrealistic ambitions, as the other perpetrators of this criminal treatment of children.¡±

While what we see on the small screen is always a happy and inspiring tale of kids who make their parents proud, the other side is extremely dark. He added,

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¡°They are brought from distant towns to Mumbai and huddled into cheap hotels with their parents. Every morning, they have to travel to the TV studio for rehearsals. These kids are wrenched away from all normal activities and are thrown into a single-minded devotion to lending their voices to these reality shows. They are made to shoot for countless hours, sometimes in humid non-air conditioned rooms. It¡¯s barbaric.¡±

Recalling an incident that he himself saw and could never forget, he said,

¡°A little, blind boy had made it to the finals of a singing contest. Throughout the day he was rehearsing under grueling circumstances for his song and finally at 1 am when he was to record, he lost his voice. The child was traumatized for life.¡±

According to Amole, the shoot for kids should rather be treated as a workshop, without mentally straining them to do things they don't wish to. Recollecting the shoot of a Maggi Noodles ad, Amole said,

¡°The kids shoot when they want to. There is no pressure on them. I¡¯ve seen what happens to these children during long hours of shooting. Once a two-year-old child was shooting a Maggi noodles ad which I was directing. It was late in the night and the shooting was halted because the child was asleep. I saw the mother hissing and prodding the child to wake up. I went up to the mother and told her to please stop, that we will hold the shooting until the child is ready, even cancel it.¡±

Amole doesn't believe in playing a blame game. Rather, he thinks that even parents are not to be blamed. There should be a proper law and order in place so that kids don't get tortured in the name of entertainment and reality shows.

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¡°It¡¯s the system. Everyone is a victim including the parents. The government needs to enforce laws against children being made to work long hours. When I was the chairperson of the Children¡¯s Film Society, I pushed for a law preventing children from being made to shoot for more than five and a half hours. That law is now existent. The law says children cannot shoot for more than five and a half hours for TV serials or films. But how many people follow this law? More needs to be done to ensure they are comfortable. When I was shooting in Madh Island for Sniff, my child-hero stayed there at a hotel with his mother, while all of us travelled back to the mainland every day. The work-load for children has to be decided by the people who make them work. No law can dictate the individual conscience.¡±

Amole's suggestions around a stringent law against long working hours for kids surely make sense. Agree?