Mumbai: The Maharashtra government decided to prosecute television serial producers who have hired child actors to work

in their soaps. Last December, the Labour ministry had sent show cause notices to these producers under the Child Labour Act and sought to know the child artistes' working hours and conditions, but did get any reply. More India news Labour Minister Nawab Malik said that cases will be filed against the producers in the Judicial Magistrate First class court in a day or two. The producers include makers of popular serials "Jai Shri Krishna", "Uttaran", "Balika Vadhu", "Chhote Miyan" on Colors channel and "Chak de Bachche" (9X), "Chhota Packet Bada Dhamaka" and "Maayka" (Zee).

Hi Dear Friends!!!! here is a very depressing Topic.. we see soo many kids on tv.. in serials & in movies... do u think they r forced into it by parents??? what do u think about child actors?? they r cute surely!!! but r they getting their education?? normal child's life?? good frineds?? how do u think the stress of succes effects them???
The child actors whom u see now a days on either on tv or on the big screen are of a different genre, they no more are children, fame, money make them think just like other adult actors and nothing more than that. Yes they do lose a part of a normal childhood, but they compensate it with fame and money. Here parents of such children cant be blamed kyon ki sabse bada rupaiyya !!!

well if they are bad actors and still they are told to act then it is child labor on a serious note....its child labor only when the money they get is used by the parents only....what i mean to say is that when parents throw their children to these things to make money.....thats cheap and also child labor.....otherwise kids who love acting.....love making money....love glamour,etc.etc.....are actually having a good time....... and i think they are getting a great education....even better than norma kids...more money...better education...which in acting...is also very necessary....

nice new point of view.... but what about innocence?? long working hours???

& if kids were handed with all tht big money,dont u think they'd be spoilt??? Yes i do believe it is Child Labour! This so called 'acting career' of theirs ruin their education and academic life.. The glamour they get is short-lived. Once they stop getting roles they are almost ruined coz their academics are already ruined.. How many of the child artists go on to become successful actors in future? Moreover the glam-sham of the TV industry take away their innocence from them. They tend to grow up before their Of course its child labor! And the avalanche of so-called reality shows in the recent years are responsible for that. They have to work for long hours to do it right, to make their act perfect. Parents also run after this fleeting fame and make their children work and destroy their childhood. The age at which they should be playing outdoors has been replaced by rehearsals and preparations. The worst part of this is that how long will the fame live? How many winners of reality shows featuring children do we know? If it continues like this, the day will not be long when we will hear the news of a child dead from exhaustion

Yes i do believe it is Child Labour! This so called 'acting career' of theirs ruin their education and academic life.. The glamour they get is short-lived. Once they stop getting roles they are almost ruined coz their academics are already ruined.. How many of the child artists go on to become successful actors in future? Moreover the glam-sham of the TV industry take away their innocence from them. They tend to grow up before their age..

Last visit, met my niece who is 9yr old.....went to drop her to school and was surprised to see the weight of the school bag she was carrying....enormous !!! I feel everything which puts unnecessary pressure on child, till he/she is grown up should be termed as child labour..... Pushing the child in competing with class is wrong too, instead, they should be guided properly. Parents have become way too demanding these days without understanding it blocks the mental growth. On the other hand, acting and stage is a profession. It demands a huge amount of physical and mental labour which a small child is not capable of. I have heard grown up actors fainting on sets due to lack of sleep or too much long shifts. I am strictly against it....but personally I have seen.....its the interest of the parents more than the child in such cases.....they should be punished. yeah agree with u... even i feel parents push their kids..& their interest is money.. its like selling their kid for money

Now-a-days many children are working on the glamour world both in small screens and big screens.But child artists are now mostly seen on small screens(Apki Antara.Jhansi Ki Rani,commercials...........). But some people are saying that in this way we are torturing a child.It is said that child artists looses their innocence.They are forced to get more matured and more responsible.Moreover they need to work the entire day like any senior artists.Their working pressure is too much comnpared with their age.Sometimes it can also hamper their studies.Many child sometimes leaves study and only concentrate on acting.But if they fail to develop a succesful career they can go to ashtray as study is very necessary to get a good job.Moreover sometimes the parents get so greedy that they don't bother to involve their new-born(Pati Patni Aur Woh)in this occupation.

Well some people beleive to pursue a succesful career in acting you need to act from chilhood.It will make your way easy to enter the glamour world.They beleive it is a source of recreation to the child and she gets to know many people and can incrase her social skills.They look it as a blessing.

What is your view on child stars?Are they exploited or blessed? I guess there are two sides to every issue ( i know i know a lame opening line ) but it's true. If the child himself / herself is interested in acting then there is no harm as they just consider it as another extra curricula activity like playing sports or instruments and stuffs. Out of interest the child knows how to make it fun and all they get from it is fun rather than work load or hectic day as described by most people. Kids might also feel it's fun to work with celebrities as they can be so close to someone who dunno how many ppl admire. Yet fame also come along for them during this tender age. The pressure from society or fans is even greater than the pressure from work to a large extend. In school they get a mixed type of treament. Their friends might admire them to such extend that he or she is hero of the school and all go crazy following them whole day OR friend might treat them as the same person who is pursuing something they are interested in. It really depends on the thought of the child. Doing drama in school and doing drama on screen is the basic difference here. It might be hard for them to strive a balance between studies and work ( or interest ) There shooting schedule might clash with study time and then it's either the child's study to sacrifies or the production unit

to shift schedule. With former having severe effect on the child as said by mrs bani, while with latter it's the involvment of a huge change which the unit cannot risk ( money loss, actors' attitude, etc.) However there are rules which state child artist should not be working exceeding several hours and they need to be given rest. That was for the child now coming to the parents. If parents are the one forcing children into being a child artist then it is exploitation to a greater extend as the child might not be willing to do it. Most people would perceive it as a way to earn money for the parents. Whereas parents defend by saying they are creating the future of their kids (future of what? being exploited? risk of lacking behind in studies? taking away the child's childhood?) I mean aren't they able to earn money with job and stuff that they need their kids now? Why not go into acting themselves lol Still being so negative about the parents, there are some who really want to help the children be sucessful in this path and side by side they do not forget the importance of studies in their child's life. They would occasionally let the child act like in summer holidays then else time they just do commercials which require not as much time. exploited or blessed...I will say they are not blessed but exploited? it depends on the situation. Just some cent no offense I think as long as the child is not forced to work on a tight schedule like adults, it's fine. If he/she is given both a relaxing childhood like all kids and asked to act, then why not? The child however, should not be forced to do anything he/she does not want. Look at Dhriti Bhatia for instance. She is a three-four year old who played toddler/kid Krishna in Colors Jai Shri Krishna recently. In a recent interview, her parents said that they only accepted Dhriti's role as Krishna because Meenakshi Sagar (the director) promised them to be gentle with her and not force her to do anything if she did not want to. Also, little Dhriti herself wanted to do it, Bal Krishna being her idol since a baby. Dhriti became a child prodigy. When people think of Bal Krishna now, only Dhriti comes to mind because of her spectacular acting despite being so young. But after Jai Shri Krishna was done, Dhriti got an offer from NDTV Imagine's Meera to play Bal Krishna as again, but her parents refused because they did not want to put so much stress on their child and hamper her education. They said that Dhriti needs her rest after the hard work she put into JSK, and that she will be starting school soon so needs to concentrate on her studies. If she wants to act in the future after her studies are completed, then that is her choice and they will support her but they will not force her into acting just because she is already famous. I think all parents of child actors should be like Dhriti's parents. Don't put stress on their child and think about their education, but if their child has no problem with acting, then support him/her.
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return_to_hades
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Posted: 17 October 2009 at 12:11pm | IP Logged

On one side you hold Olsen Twins, Macaulay Culkin, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears etc those who went down the trash drain.

On the other hand consider Dakota Fanning, Emma Watson, Jodie Foster, Michael J fox who prove that children can have balanced careers. Then you also consider people like Drew Barrymore, Alyssa Milano who show that even when premature fame gets you down the drain at times, there is a way out to become successful adults. For exploitation the best Eg is Slum Dog Kid actors anything with their kids.....
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....for money and fame Greedy parents ready to do

Mahi_mahi
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Joined: 29 June 2008 Posts: 11058

Posted: 18 October 2009 at 1:53am | IP Logged

^^LOL I thought kids were equally happy doing the movie and why not who dont like to get famous and earn money? Back to the topic ...I guess it's nothing wrong in acting in serials BUT yes they should be given some relaxation to study as well i gotta read interviews of kids like Afsa musani the host of srgmp who stated she studies in spare while shooting.But her show comes in the weekend that also for 2 days while rest kids are working day and night with no relaxation and their studies are also effected like Anandi of BV says that she don't get enuff time to study just since she has a busy schedule in that case parents should seriously do something and yes i dont take it as blessing nor do i think it's exploiting them.
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_DrEaM_
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Posted: 18 October 2009 at 4:43am | IP Logged

Antara from aapki antara and that lil guy acting as abhishek have said in an interview that they do homework on set and the other actors help them with their studies which indeed might give positive influence to their studies

KIDS DO not play a major role in advertisements. Even if they appear, its for health drinks, dairy and bakery items relevant to them. Acting in such advertisements should not intervene with their studies. When child labour cannot be completely eradicated there is no harm in allowing kids in these advertisements. I have come across a kid who was taking Horlicks because it is "Appidiye sappidalam". K.Venkatraman, Porkudam Aapartments, Bypass Road, Madurai-10. KIDS IN advertisements attract customers more easily. It is a marketing strategy of advertisement agencies as many products in the market are related to kids. Also, normally a kid's desire to buy a product is not denied by family members. Buyers should not be carried away by advertisements while buying a product. ADVERTISEMENTS AIM at influencing consumers. Using kids in ads is handy for the manufacturers/sellers. Curiosity, innocence and playfulness of kids in advertisements are meant for pleasurable watching and not for commercialisation. In the interest of the society all right thinking manufacturers/sellers should resist from engaging kids for advertising their products and services. THESE DAYS most children are hooked on to television and adequately equip themselves for an exposure on the small screen. The natural performance of kids in advertisements grabs the viewers' attention and fulfils the purpose of advertisers. But sadly, the child actors have to sacrifice their golden time. The ad filmmakers exert pressure on children, making them act like robots. Initially, the kids may enjoy the performance but it affects them in the long run. They start behaving independently in classroom and elsewhere weakening the bond with their classmates. Advertisements with children in them may be enjoyable but undue pressure should not be exerted on children.

Across America in the homes of the rich, the not-so-rich, and in poverty-stricken homes and tenements, as well as in schools and businesses, sits advertisers' mass marketing tool, the television, usurping freedoms from children and their parents and changing American culture. Virtually an entire nation has surrendered itself wholesale to a medium for selling. Advertisers, within the constraints of the law, use their thirty-second commercials to target America's youth to be the decision-makers, convincing their parents to buy the advertised toys, foods, drinks, clothes, and other products. Inherent in this

targeting, especially of the very young, are the advertisers; fostering the youth's loyalty to brands, creating among the children a loss of individuality and self-sufficiency, denying them the ability to explore and create but instead often encouraging poor health habits. The children demanding advertiser's products are influencing economic hardships in many families today. These children, targeted by advertisers, are so vulnerable to trickery, are so mentally and emotionally unable to understand reality because they lack the cognitive reasoning skills needed to be skeptical of advertisements. Children spend thousands of hours captivated by various advertising tactics and do not understand their subtleties. Though advertisers in America's free enterprise system are regulated because of societal pressures, they also are protected in their rights under freedom of expression to unfairly target America's youth in order to sell to their parents, regardless of the very young's inability to recognize the art of persuasion. In the free enterprise system, the advertiser's role is to persuade consumers to buy their products/services. They are given a product/service and are required to use their best creative effort to make this product desirable to the intended audience (Krugman 37). Because of this calculated and what many deem as manipulative way of enticing the target audience, the advertising industry is...