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Tamil filmmaker M Manikandan’s Kaakkaa Muttai is about aspiration, the food chain and a kind of hunger that is unique to the process of globalisation.

Kaaka Muttai's story revolves around two slum children of Chennai, Tamil Nadu whose desire is to taste a pizza. The film had its world premiere on 5 September 2014 at the 39th Toronto International Film Festival, and was released worldwide on 5 June 2015, and received widespread acclaim for its story and cast performances. It went on to win two National Film Awards at the 2015 ceremony - Best Children's Film and Best Child Artist (Ramesh and Vignesh).

The first look of the project was announced to the media by Padma on 26 January 2014, coinciding with Republic Day, with Dhanush and Vetrimaaran announcing that they would be making a children's film to be directed by M. Manikandan, a former wedding photographer, who had earlier directed the short film, Wind (2010), with music by G V Prakash Kumar. Filming for the project began at the end of May 2013, with the maker suggesting that the film would be complete in one schedule. Silambarasan accepted to make a cameo appearance in the film. He joined the team in September 2013 to film scenes alongside Babu Antony who plays a landlord. Two newcomers, Ramesh and Vignesh, had been selected to play the lead roles along with Iyshwarya Rajesh and Ramesh Thilak. In August 2014, it was reported that the film had been completed four months before.

 

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Keshu is a 2009 Indian Malayalam children's film directed by Sivan. The film won by Best Children's Film award at the 57th National Film Awards. It also won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Children's Film of 2009.

Directed by Sivan, Keshu had Navneeth Krishnan in the lead, and told the tale of a deaf and dumb orphan who lives with his uncle and aunt. It narrates how the naughty, unruly kid develops a friendship with an art teacher, which leads to him finding his true potential in painting.

It was alleged that Sanjeev Sivan, son of director Sivan, was part of the regional jury of the film award and had allegedly recommended his father's film for the award and hence it was illegal and inappropriate to give the award to 'Keshu'. The Kerala High court stayed the presentation of the National award to the film following the complaint. Filmmaker and jury member Harikumar alleged that it was a remake of his 2001 film Pularvettom. The petition was dismissed finally by the Highcourt of Kerala, observing that Santosh Sivan was not part of the regional jury while Keshu was nominated for contesting for the national award.

 

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Baanaadi is a 2014 Indian Kannada language children's film written and directed by debutant Nagaraj Kote, based on the novel Usiru he wrote.  It stars Praful Vishwakarma, H. G. Dattatreya and Rajesh Nataranga in the lead roles. The supporting cast features Dhruthi, Abhinaya, Sringeri Ramanna, Jayashree Raj, Venkatachala, T. S. Nagabharana, Mimicry Gopi and Yashwanth Kote. Music for five of the six soundtracks in the film were composed by Karthik Sharma, who, with the film became the youngest composer in the history of Kannada cinema.

 Usiru, a novel written by Nagaraj Kote in the 1990s, deals with the upbringing of children in the current era. Deciding to direct a film based on the novel, Kote launched the film in April 2014, having signed Praful Vishwakarma, Rajesh Nataranga and H. G. Dattatreya to play characters of three generations; a young boy, his father and grandfather. The role of Praful's mother was played by Anubhava, who was pregnant during the filming stages. Filming completed in July 2014.

 

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Aamir Khan's debut directorial venture Taare Zameen Par, a sensitive story of an eight-year-old dyslexia child, has been selected as India's entry to the foreign language category for Oscars at the 81st annual Academy awards.

Taare Zameen Par written by Amole Gupte was released in 2007 and has received critical and Box Office acclaim. Aamir had said that the film did business of Rs 131 crore at the box-office world-wide.

The film made its theatrical debut in India on 21 December 2007, and UTV Home Entertainment released a DVD for Indian audiences in 2008. Disney's later release of the international edition DVD marked the first purchase of distribution rights for an Indian film by a global company.

Taare Zameen Par has received numerous awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Film for 2008 and the 2008 National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare. It was India's official entry for the 2009 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film, but did not progress to the short-list.

 

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Sahaj Paather Gappo is a Bengali film directed by Manas Mukul Pal and produced by Avijit Saha. The film depicts the story of two brothers, Chhotu and Gopal from a poor family of a Bengal village.

10-year-old Gopal’s carefree childhood is disrupted when his father meets with an accident. It becomes difficult for his mother to feed him and his little brother Chottu. Gopal starts devising ways to earn money. With a little assistance from Chottu he takes up odd jobs from cleaning wells to selling laboriously plucked fruits in the local village market. Emboldened by his initial success, Gopal fancies himself as the breadwinner of the family. Meanwhile, a grand Janmashtami feast is being planned in the Brahmin household where the pulao will be served. Hearing this both the brothers hatch plans of their own. Gopal would like to make a quick buck by selling palmyras for the feast, while Chottu starts dreaming of this fancy dish that he has never seen or tasted. After all he has heard that the whole village will be invited. But as a disheartening reality Gopal and Chhotu were not chosen to be invited. It shattered Chhotu's dream world.

This film made its entry to Mumbai Film Festival 2016 in two categories and is selected for Indian Panorama section of International Film Festival of India 2016. It is also one of the two movies from India that competed in the international section of International Film Festival of India. Noor Islam and Samiul Alam jointly won the National Film Awards, India (2016) in the best child actor category.

 

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Village Rockstars is a 2017 Indian Assamese language coming-of-age film written, edited, co-produced, and directed by Rima Das, who is a self-taught filmmaker.

 The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Rockstars was Das's second film after Antardrishti (2016). Her 2018 film, Bulbul Can Sing, was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2019, she directed her first documentary fiction ‘Sunshine Dreamers’. This is a result of her collaboration with BRICS co-production Kids & Glory for which she worked with Producer Lu Chuan and fellow BRICS Directors Tiago Arakilian, Nastia Tarasova, Shen Zhao Qing, Shane Vermooten and Lu Chuan.

‘Village Rockstars’ which tells the story of a 10 year old girl and her dream of owning a guitar and forming a band, the Rockstars, with a group of local boys, has also won awards in three other categories.

Village Rockstars also won awards in three other categories: Best Child Artist, Best Location Sound Recordist and Best Editing. The film was selected as India's official entry to the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated for top nine films from 87.

 

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Smile Pinki (2008) is a 39-minute documentary directed by Megan Mylan. The film shows the story of a poor girl in rural India whose life is transformed when she receives free surgery to correct her cleft lip. 

"Nomination of Smile Pinki for an Oscar is bound to bring awareness about this congenital anomaly among the general public and health agencies and therefore it is a good news for all cleft patients whose life can change," said an elated Singh.



Produced in Hindi (with English subtitles), Smile Pinki was also a 2008 nominee for best documentary short by the International Documentary Association.



Others in race with Smile Pinki are The Conscience of Nhem En, The Final Inch, and The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306.

 

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Ever since the trailer of Nagesh Kukunoor's 'Dhanak' was released, it managed to tug at the deepest corners of the heart. Starring Hetal Gadda and Krrish Chhabria as the two children, the film revolves around the lives of eight-year-old visually impaired boy Chotu and his 10-year-old sister Pari.

 

Pari, who had promised her younger brother that he'll be able to see before he turns 9, sets out on a magical journey with Chotu to meet their reel-life hero Shah Rukh Khan who is apparently promoting an eyes donation campaign.

The film was premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Crystal Bear Grand Prix for Best Children's Film, and Special Mention for the Best Feature Film by The Children's Jury for Generation Kplus.

The film has also garnered the Best Film Award in the main category-Children's Feature Film Competition-Cinema in Sneakers (film festival), and the Best Film Award - at the Montreal International Children's Film Festival (FIFEM). Dhanak was also screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the Toronto International Film Festival. The film has garnered Best Children's Film at the 64th National Film Awards.

 

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The Blue Umbrella is a 2005 Indian drama film based on the novel The Blue Umbrella (1980) by Ruskin Bond. It was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starred Shreya Sharma and Pankaj Kapur in lead roles. The music was by Bhardwaj and lyrics were penned by Gulzar. The story is about a conflict between a young girl and a mean old man in a small hill town in Himachal Pradesh.

In a small village of Himachal Pradesh, a little girl Binya trades her lucky leopard’s claw pendant for a pretty, frilly blue umbrella.

There were many who envied Binya her treasured possession, and the most envious of them all was old Ram Bharosa, the shopkeeper, who decided that he must own the blue umbrella, by means fair or foul.

The Blue Umbrella received positive reviews, including Hindustan Times writer Khalid Mohamed who describes it as a child's confection 'with passages of charm, visual aplomb and lively performances.' The acting of Pankaj Kapur is noted in particular.

 

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From award winning director Santosh Sivan, TAHAAN is a stunningly shot, fable-like story set in scenic but strife-ridden Kashmir. The conflict is used as backdrop for the story of an eight-year-old boy, Tahaan, who tries to gain back his beloved pet donkey that has been sold to pay the family debt.

After major commercial releases such as The Terrorist (1999), Asoka (2001), Anandabhadram (2005) and Before the Rains (2007), award-winning director Santosh Sivan got the idea for this film after reading a newspaper report. He formed a fable-like story from the report.

Since Kashmir is a strife-torn area, films are rarely picturised there. However, in the case of this film, Sivan thought that audiences can relate it to the film well. It was only after 18 years that a film was filmed in Kashmir.

While filming in Pahalgam, Sivan realised to his surprise that children were comfortable with guns. It seemed to him that it was a part of everyday life for them. The film makes eloquent use of Quranic verses or azaan, for which the director took help from research scholars in Kashmir.

 

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