Features in film with children from Goregaon slums

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; June 22, 2012)

 

Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire made stars of two children from Bandra’s slums, who were cast in that Oscarwinning film. Now, Manish Harishankar, an erstwhile assistant of Rajkumar Santoshi, has cast two boys from Santosh Nagar, Goregaon in Chaarfutiya Chhokare, his directorial debut, about child trafficking and abuse. Apart from these two boys, the director has cast Harsh Nayyar (of I Am Kalam fame) and Soha Ali Khan in his film. “It was during my visit to Champaran, Bihar that I discovered the dangerous nexus behind trafficking and abuse of children there. That’s when I decided to make a film on anti-child trafficking and abuse,” says the director.

During casting, he sought help from a couple of NGOs for children. Ultimately, it was one of his associates who brought cousins Ajay (13) and Shankar Mandal (12) to him. The two boys had been spotted trying to source food from one of the shooting floors in Film City. While initially reluctant to give personal information, it is learnt that the boys gave their parents’ contact numbers.

They were initially apprehensive when the director called them over to his office. Manish tells us, “The parents are involved in removing honey from the beehives in buildings. They were worried that their kids had done something wrong. They were relieved when we assured them that that we wanted them to act in the film.”

Further, the director also More >