Shreedhar BS aka Shred’s animation film, Reena Ki Kahani, aims to create awareness about trafficking. In a conversation with Saimi Sattar, he talks about its similarity with Doordarshan’s films with a moral, the need to reach out to children and more
When Shreedhar BS (better known as Shred) was approached by the NGO Vihaan to make a film on trafficking, he took the animation route. The outcome Reena Ki Kahani was released on YouTube as, without a paywall, it was bound to have a better reach among the target audience. Shred will also be organising a free screening of the film in 1,000 Indian schools from the first week of January.
The nine-and-a-half-minute film focusses on the horrors of human trafficking and the way agents, which lurk amongst us, trap victims. The film also talks about how to understand potential threats of human trafficking and avoid them
Based on the real-life story of Reena, the film traces her path from being a girl with dreams to her entrapment into the flesh trade and subsequent rescue. It also sheds light on the different vulnerabilities that facilitate such crimes, like false promises and the lure of a better life for girls from the weaker sections of society. It showcases how traffickers connive to prey on possible victims. At another level, this film is also a story of survival, giving insights into how such situations can be detected and avoided as well as the way to identify victims and oppressors.
It was not surprising that Vihaan, which has rescued over 4,700 survivors of human trafficking narrowed down on the director of Shred Creative Lab Private Limited to make this film to create awareness. Shred has over 22 years of experience in films, television, digital content, branding, and marketing. Known for innovative and disruptive ideas, Shred has worked closely with international brands such as Turner Broadcast UK, National Geographic - International, Fox, Ford - APAC, BMW - India, Sony Motion Pictures - London/USA and many more.
The winner of 43 National and International awards for creative excellence, SCL embodies Shreedhar’s vision to create innovative and path-breaking visual communication. Shred earlier was the director of Salt Studios Private Limited and creative director for the National Geographic Channel as well as Fox International Channels. Earlier this year his documentary, In Our World, which highlighted the lives of three autistic children was the official selection and premiered at the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa. It also was screened in Bollywood Festival Norway and NYC Virtual South Asia Film Festival (SAFF) and is scheduled to screen in many forthcoming film festivals globally.
Excerpts from an interview:
Why did you decide to take the animation route for this film? Was it to ensure that it reached more people?
It was animated because I wanted parents to see it and wanted them to encourage children to see it. When the NGO approached me for this film, the first thought was to do a real-life documentary on the rescue of these children. But later the thought was that such a film would never reach children and they would not be aware of the dangers that lurk or the kind of dangers that they are exposed to. So, it was a better idea to make it animated while making it less morbid and more sensitive so that it could be seen by children. So, that was the entire thought behind making it an animation film.
So, is it primarily looking at children?
It is looking at everyone. Children, parents and adults. I didn’t want to isolate anyone when I was making it. I chose folk art as an art form for the animation so that it could relate to the region where the incident took place. Since it was in Bengal, we chose folk art from the State. We tried to connect with the children from that region and made it shorter because the virality is more. It was released on YouTube so that at least the link could be shared. It can be screened on mobiles and in schools. So, we had a lot of thoughts about the kind of art to use and the kind of animation to use.
How long did it take, from the storyboard to execution to make the film?
It actually took us longer than we thought. It took three-four months. Each of these boards was hand-drawn separately. Once the board was drawn, it was animated. We had to make it sensitive and talk about each topic that involves human trafficking. We had to do a lot of research, hear a lot of stories from them and find what kind of things had to be highlighted. So, we talked about all kinds of trafficking, what all leads to it. We chose Reena’s story because she was one of the people who were rescued and now she has moved on to a life of her own. We wanted to talk about something positive and bring the girl at the end of the film where she says that, ‘I am fine now. And people need to fight against this kind of crime,’ to give it some kind of completion.
You have used folk art from Bengal. Did you get actual practitioners on board?
I have a team of artists but we did refer to some artists in Mumbai who could draw this and guide us. We asked them for help.
The film had a very nostalgic Doordarshan vibe where we were reminded of films like Ek Chidiya, Anek Chidiya and others. Was that deliberate?
We miss those films, don’t we? I wanted to go back to that. This was a conscious effort where I wanted to make a film of that nature. It had to be linear storytelling. I did not want to dramatise anything. The primary audience was children. We remember those films because they were not too non-linear or classy. It was a linear narrative and all of them taught us something. There was always a moral at the end. These were in our minds when we were making it. I am not denying that.
Several reports indicate that trafficking has increased during the lockdown as the financial situation became very desperate during the lockdown.
A lot of desperation set in for too many people. Many did not have work, others could not go out and work. There were several painful stories, that I heard from the NGOs, that parents gave away their children thinking that the girl would earn some money to run the house. The vulnerabilities were high during this period. People were available for exploitation because of a lack of money, parents losing their jobs. When emotional stress was high as parents wondered how they would run the house, children volunteered to go and look for work in Mumbai or Kolkata without realising the danger or what they are getting into. Such situations put people in a place where they are potential targets for these guys.
Future projects?
I am writing a Malayalam feature film on caste atrocities that happened in the early 20th century. This is a horror thriller is based on folklore. This is about the rise of communism and a police investigation into serial killing.
