‘Abdul’, a 12-minute short film being screened at the 19th International Children’s Film Festival depicts hard reality

HYDERABAD: It is the story of Abdul, a happy-go-lucky boy whose life turns upside down when his father, a banana seller, is killed in a bomb blast.
With a family of sisters and brother and a mother to support, Abdul becomes a child labourer. The 12-minute short film titled Abdul, directed by Anand Gurram and produced by Teluguone, cast a spell on young viewers at the 19th International Children’s Film Festival. Anand is happy with the response. “We just wanted to highlight two points from the movie. Terrorism has no religion. It affects people of every religion. And, how for some children, child labour becomes inevitable as they are forced to work,” states Anand.
Shot in a Government School in Chandrayanagutta, the film’s heart-touching performance is by Aashrith, who plays Abdul in the movie. A beaming Aashrith shares his experience of working in his first movie. “It was a nice experience. I didn’t expect to be so popular. All my friends appreciated my performance,” he says with a smile. Anand makes a point about the comments people make on child labour without knowing the real background. “We see children who sell stuff on roads. They are not orphans and have a family to support. We wonder why they don’t go to schools to study. But they have a family to support. So, it is a viscous circle and without the right support, they end being a child labour,” he elaborates.
Anand works as a writer in a private radio channel and had earlier made a short film Dirty Katha. On the occasion of International Men’s Day on November 19, Anand uploaded a two-minute short film Men Unheard, Unspoken and Unseen with a tagline ‘Do you know.’