Children's films ignored in Bollywood: Zeishan Quadri

"‘Gangs of Wasseypur" fame screenplay writer Zeishan Quadri, who has made his debut as a writer-director on the digital platform with the web series "Bhoot Purva", says writing a fantasy story keeping children in mind is a tough task, and perhaps that is a reason why childrens films is an ignored genre in Bollywood.

The story of the show revolves around a youngster and his friendship with a ghost, and how the world of the ghost is intertwined with the reality of Purva, the central character.

It has been garnering children's interest as well.

Asked why the Hindi entertainment industry does not provide more content for children, Quadri told IANS here: "I think children's films is an ignored genre because for the last few decades, we have stopped providing content for them. Their parents are taking them to watch mainstream masala films and that is why the new generation would rather watch a Salman Khan film than a children's film.

"Making content for children which is commercially viable is also a task. We still love watching 'Mr. India'. But we are not making such films where the reality and fantasy meet in one narration. Children films are also good family entertainment... we just need to package them well."

"Bhoot Purva", streaming on the OTT Platform ZEE5, features Omkar Kapoor, Zoa Morani, Rishab Chadha, Manurishi Chadha and Jayati Bhatia.

Being a writer who is known for gangster stories, how come Quadri wrote a light-hearted horror comedy?

He said: "Since my childhood, I wanted a Genie who would do my homework, who would bring the best cricket bats and all the things that I wanted... So, somewhere that was there in my mind.

"But the ghost in our show has no power and that is quite the opposite of what we have seen so far... a ghost with a special power. You can say, this story is somewhere breaking the stereotype of regular (on-screen) ghosts and that meets my childhood world." IANS