Catching them young!

A start-up, Purple People Labs, by Mumbai-based Shweta Parakh, who is all of 28, is a cinema school that runs out of a bag! Founded in 2012, this school reached Chandigarh in 2014 roping in students between the age group of 6 and 16 from various schools.

Produced by Purple People Labs, 10 films made by students will now be screened at the Miami Film Festival—Grandindiewise Convention.

“In Mumbai, there is a huge issue of space and I wanted a media studio which I have hand-done in Shemrock School. I was drawn to Chandigarh for its open spaces and an owner of a school who offered to work with me, but unfortunately people in Chandigarh lack work culture. I was asked all sorts of questions by chairpersons, from my marital status, to my father’s occupation, and my weight issues. I was duped by a school owner (who I would not like to name) too, but I am a tough cookie and I find my way around it,” shares Shweta.

While sharing that she has shuttled between 30 odd jobs from being a journalist, a radio jockey, and working in a production house, she says, “I was running an activity centre for children in Mumbai and it occurred to me that they have brilliant perspectives that can be made into films and produced by us.”

Shweta invested her savings and earnings from teaching cinema and filmmaking at schools in a Mumbai-based NGO called Anstrengung-United that teaches street children. “I went to them, heard their stories, and made films about them; that’s when I realize how powerful a medium cinema is. When I was 13 years old, I made my first film. I was mentioned in the Limca Book of Records to have made the first TV Channel in school called the Ryan TV,” she gushes with a sense of accomplishment.

Shweta charges Rs 800 per month from a student and provides them the equipment that she carries in a bag. She runs an online cinema school for the visually challenged and hearing-impaired kids in Jodhpur and travels from one city to another.

“A six-year-old will paint an elephant red, yellow, and green, but a 16-year old will colour it grey. It’s the openness of mind that I play on. We call it design thinking. I lead students to think, imagine, or observe and arrange their perspectives on a story board. Children can learn so much from filmmaking—directing hones their leadership skills, working with camera gives them a sense of vision, and production improves inter-personal relations,” she shares.

The game gets bigger

Purple People’s Labs (PPL), India’s largest producer of “films made by kids” with 200 short films produced in five years that have been screened across 37 International Film Festivals, is invited as India’s largest producer of films by kids. “Over 20 films from PPL qualified for nomination from which seven best films will be screened at the Miami Festival. The films will premiere at Miami between August 24 to 27,” says Shweta. The students will not only screen their films amongst 300+ films being screened at the AMC Aventura Theatre, but will also produce a documentary film about the event. PPL crew will interview filmmakers from world over on the festival’s blue carpet as the official “Kids’ Press”.

The flag bearers 

Shivain Arora from Panjab University, Chandigarh is the cinematographer of the film, post-production has been done by Rhea Sharma of Banyan Tree School, Chandigarh, Smyra Grover from Little flower, Panchkula has acted in one of the films. Omkar Shitole, from KC College- Mumbai has directed it and Shirish Waghmare from Ramesh Sippy Academy of Cinema and Entertainment is handling all post production works. 

—Amarjot Kaur