Meet the director, all of nine years old!

“When I received the Guinness record, what made me proud was Netherlands was replaced and a new name “India” was written in the Books of history. This made me really proud.’’ 

Kishan Sreekanth has done India proud. At the age of nine he has achieved what nobody in the world has ever accomplished. Kishan found place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person to direct a professional feature film. He replaces Sydney Ling, who was thirteen in 1973 when he directed the Dutch film Lex the Wonderdog.

Born in Bangalore to Srikanth HR and Shylaja, Kishan’s tryst with the movies triggered even from early childhood. Kishen started modeling at the age of three; he entered in to the glittering film world at the age of four. When children his age have to be torn away from the television to their home work, waiting for the next Harry Potter to hit the screen, Kishen prefers to call the shots from behind the camera.

The young Kishan scripted and directed a film ‘Care of Footpath’ at the age of nine. The movie ‘Care of Footpath’ tells the story of a street kid who gets to go to school and makes it big. His example meant to be an inspiration for millions of street children. The film was released on November 26, 2006 and it runs 100 days in India. 

The film won 11 international awards, many national awards including Swarna Kamal for the best children's film for articulating the burning desire for education in a slum dweller, from the President of India.

A little genius

 

“One day, at the age of seven, while traveling with my father I saw some children selling newspaper in the street. At the very first moment that appealed me. ‘Why don’t they go to school like us? I asked my father and he said they can’t make a living out of it. At that time I was acting in television serials and also attended my school. I thought why they can’t do like me …while attending the school, they can sell news paper in the morning and evening. When I ask this to my dad he said it was a good idea. But for that I need to inspire them.” Says Kishen

“Well, I didn’t find an answer like a short film which can motivate them. A film may influence thousands of street kids all over. So I decided to make a film showcasing them. I came up with a short story and my dad advised me to put in more characters. Gradually the screenplay came about and people suggested that I direct the film. That’s how all it happened.” added Kishen.

Kishen learnt the art of direction starting from a light boy to cinematographers and from a clap boy to a director on the sets when he was acting.

Besides directing the film, Kishen was also played the lead role. “Being a director is not child’s play. A director is like the ‘captain of the ship’. A director needs to have abundant knowledge & understanding of all the branches involved in the process of making a film, right from pre-production, production till post-production,” says a dynamic Kishan.

The 170, 000 dollar, 135 -minute film produced by Kishan’s mother Shailaja, she herself is a movie music director. The film was dubbed into other Indian languages including Hindi, Oriya, Malayalam, Bengali and Tamil as well as English and got sub titles in 15 languages.

Kishan recently completed the lead role of the male protagonist as Aarya in a Kannada film titled “TEENAGE” Ee Vayasse Onthara, which was directed by his father Sreekanth. The film also features young talents like Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, V Manohar, Tabala Naani, Jayashree and Lakshman.

“TEENAGE, is a film on young teens which revolves around their nuances, innocence and confusions. It is an entertaining musical film with over 10 songs in which I play the role of a guitarist,” says Kishan

Kishan is now planning a big budget 3D Holographic film. The 3D film will again be a teenage film revolving around the interests, fantasies and issues of teenagers,” says Kishan.“I am now writing script for a film which will be shot in Stereoscopic 3D. I am planning to start this by 2012. This is a big budget action movie which will definitely woo the Indian audience.”

Even if he is busy with the acting, Kishen concentrating highly on his education. He cleared his board examination with 93 percent from Carmel English School Bangalore.

To his credit this PUC student of the Carmel Pre University College has 30 feature films, about 300 television soaps and a couple of tele-films.

The young Kishan, who is aiming nothing less than an Oscar in the future, is working hard to achieve his dream. “I want to be in the dreamland of Hollywood. And I am sure that one day I will make India proud again,” added Kishan. 

Hats off to this young genius, who made India proud!

Master Kishen, the world’s youngest director of a full length feature film, has come a long way since his first directorial. Kishan shares his experience as a director, his ambitions and future plans in an Interview. Read on

1. What are your hobbies?

I spend my free time in updating myself to the state-of-the-art cutting-edge technology that gets developed in the top institutes of the world and I confess I'm a gadget enthusiast. So, I love keeping a tab on the advancements in the latest gadgets and gizmos.

Technology is what amazes me the most, so I always like trying out the Beta test versions of almost all software’s that are released till date.

Except this, swimming, listening to lots of music, reading e-books mostly (to remain eco-

friendly) and chilling out with my friends are my favorite activities I take up during my leisure…

2. How and when did you come up with an idea of direct a film?

"I was inspired to direct the movie “Care of Footpath” based on an incident that took place in my life when I was 7 yrs old. When I saw the under-privileged street children who were selling newspapers on the roads at a traffic signal, I asked my dad ‘Why don’t they go to school like us?’ I learnt they had to sell newspapers for a living. I wanted to motivate and inspire these children to go to school along with selling newspapers.

I then felt film is a powerful medium to inspire these children. So, I wrote a short story about these children and when I told about it to my parents, they were supportive. I developed the story to an extent that it could be made as a feature film. During a family get together, when I told about the story to my dad and his friends, everybody told “Why not you (Kishan) direct it as a feature film?” This was the incident which made me direct “Care of Footpath”.

3. What really convinced you to take the plunge?

I was not new to cinema. I started my career in films as a child model when I was 3. I was casted in a film when I was 4. Since then, cinema which was just my hobby, changed out to be my profession. During those days when I used to act as a ‘child-actor’ in a lot of South Indian films, I used to spend most of my time learning the art of direction on the sets from the film director, the DP (director of photography), the AD’s (assistant directors) and others, while other child-actors used to study their text books.

And when it was decided that I would be directing “Care of Footpath”, by then, I had learnt the art of film making. I just referred to some books written by senior Hollywood film directors and screen writers to become a complete professional director. When I was ready, I was convinced by myself to take the gigantic plunge.

4. Did you take any formal training in direction?

Well, no… Not at all… I haven’t taken any professional or formal training in direction because I’ve always believed in learning out of the box. I’m damn sure there was any film institute which would teach a 7 year old, directing a feature film.

So, I just studied what Hollywood follows in film-making and the unbelievable fact is that all the Assistant Directors, who worked with me in Care of Footpath, were first-timers to at least be on a film set.

5. How was the experience as a director?

Being a director, is not child’s play. A director is like the ‘captain of the ship’. A director needs to have abundant knowledge & understanding of all the branches involved in the process of making a film, right from pre-production, production till post-production.

I had a very good experience being a director. It’s a tough and a challenging job. While shoots, I would have to look into all departments such as the Camera Dept., Makeup,

6. How did you manage the entire shooting team, especially the senior actors like Jackie

Shroff and Saurav Shukla?

Managing the entire shooting team was not an easy task. But along with it, I was also playing the lead role in Care of Footpath, so I had to manage both infront of the camera as well as behind the camera. Jackie Shroff and Sourabh Shukla both were very co-operative. The whole crew including Jaggu Dada and Kallu Mama treated me like they would any other professional director. Especially Jaggu dada would call me ‘chhota director’.

7. You found place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person to direct a professional feature film. How does it feel to be the youngest director?

It feels good, really. When I made this film, neither I nor anybody guessed I would enter into the Guinness Books. I was clearly making the film for the underprivileged children.

A 13 year old boy Sydney Ling, who is now Lord Sydney Ling from Netherlands, had the Guinness record for directing at such a young age. I broke his record at the age of 9 years after almost three decades. When I received the Guinness record, what made me proud was Netherlands was replaced and a new name “India” was written in the Books of history. This made me really proud.

It does feel good to be the youngest director, but since my first film successfully ran for 100 days in South India and dubbed into several Indian languages along with being subtitled to international languages, it gives me more responsibility to make better films in the future.

8. Apart from the directorial venture how many movies you acted so far?

I started my career in modeling when I was of 3 yrs. After that, I was offered a role in a film when I was just 4 yrs. Since then, I’ve acted in about 30 feature films so far and in about 300 television soaps and a couple of tele-films.

9. During your school days how did you cope with studies along with acting?

I was a bright kid at school. My friends were jealous at me because I would top my class with the least attendance. Never was film an interference or an obstacle in my education. I took up both simultaneously. But I always believed that whatever I do, I should do it with maximum concentration. When most of my classmates tried mugging up lessons, I tried understanding them. My dad, when he used to teach me history or geography, I would conceptualize it like a film running before my eyes. This would make it easier for me to memorize things and get good marks. But I should confess, I always used to hate memorizing things, whether it be the old poems or the historical dates & events.

10. You are the star in your school. How is the response from your friends and teachers?

Oh no... I was no star in my school at least… Though I was a celebrity, my parents never put me in an International School. I studied in a Public School. They wanted me to know what life is. My friends and teachers treated me very normally like they would any other kid in the school. Except when my articles appeared in the newspapers, they would ask me about my experiences when I was invited by countries abroad.

11. Tell us something about your family. Who all are there and how they are encouraging you?

My family has always been the reason behind my success. They have always supported me through my struggles to reach my goals. Right now, my whole family is into the film industry. My dad Shrikanth is a film director and a producer, my mom Shylaja Shrikanth is a music director and a producer and my sister Kiran, 13 years is into computer graphics and animation. People ask me if I really directed “Care of Footpath” or there was someone behind me teaching me how things should be done, I wonder how they could think so… My father, who was then working as an Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax, my mother and my whole family stayed home. It was my job. I was the captain of the ship. I took the decisions. It would otherwise be hilarious for Guinness Records to present the prestigious record.

12. Other than film what is your biggest passion?

Other than film, music is my biggest passion. I am a very good guitarist. It so happened that I had to learn guitar for my upcoming film “TEENAGE” which is a film on young teens which revolves around their nuances, innocence and confusions. It is an entertaining musical film with over 10 songs in which I play the role of a guitarist.

13. Which are the merits and awards that have come in your way?

I was officially recognized by the Guinness Books of Records as the “Youngest director of a professionally made feature film at 9 years for “Care of Footpath” directed by me, I was awarded the nation’s highest National Swarna Kamal – Golden Lotus award from her Excellency the President of India Smt. Pratibha Patil mam.

I was awarded the National Award for exceptional achievement by honorable Sonia Gandhi mam. Laurels for Care of Footpath are never-ending…Even after 6 years of its release the movie is going all over the world.

I had been to Italy to the prestigious Giffoni International Film festival to receive what is known as the Children’s Oscar and the Child Rights Award. The Cairo International Film Festival for Children awarded two Golden Cairo awards for the Best International Jury’s Film and the Best International Children Jury’s Film.

The movie won the Honorary Award from the government of Greece during the Emotions Pictures Film Festival in Athens, Greece. The film won the Best Film by the International Jury along with me bagging the Best Actor award at the International Film Festival for Young Adults (FICI), Spain.

The movie was screened as the Closing film in the Busan International Children’s film fest in South Korea.

14. Who is your role model, who inspired you the most?

My role model in films for being a director is Steven Spielberg. He is my role model because he makes film on all genres. Like E.T. was a movie on sci-fi and what about fiction based Jurassic Park, a completely science technology based Back to the Future and don’t forget the most thrilling Jaws along with adventurous Indiana Jones. This is what I look up to in him. Because each movie he makes is completely different from one other. He recently made Tin Tin, an animation, yet so unique.

15. Are you planning to write and direct in future as well?

Yes, I am now writing script for a film which will be shot in Stereoscopic 3D. I am planning to start this by 2012. This is a big budget action movie which will definitely woo the Indian audience. I still wonder why Indian film makers convert their 2D films into stereo 3D making it a fake 3D film and misguiding Indian audiences. Such films are literally thrashing the market for 3D in India and are a major setback.

16) Words of wisdom to the young generation want to follow your footsteps.

Don’t stop dreaming. If one child can make one achievement, it is enough to make India proud, that will make India at least one year ahead of all other countries. We can do even unimaginable things. Parents and teachers should encourage children’s to achieve great things. Be a good citizen of the country and a good son for parents.