Monday, February 12, 2018

Railway children: Tales of runaway kids!

What is the story of a child lost (and found) on a railway platform? It is possible the child has run away from his/her home for some reason. Every child ‘rescued’ from a railway platform has a story to tell, sometimes real, other times bordering on fantasy. And yet in every story, perhaps one cannot miss the ignoble tale of hundreds of children being wronged by society at large.






Director: Prithvi Konanur

Film clip
Railway children (2016), the Kannada film, is a sensitive, yet matter-of-fact, rendering of such an important subject. It presents many stories of railway children sans any melodrama. It is as though the unfortunate children are coming in front of you to be noticed whether you like it or not. The cruel circumstances in which these children are strangulated can send a jitter in every caring adult.
Director Prithvi Konanur has dealt with the subject quite efficiently and professionally. It is clear that he does not want to make a spectacle out of the squalor of these lowly kids. He seems also interested to go deeper into reasons why they run away from home. While, most children who decide to run away do so for obvious reasons, there may be a few others who run away unable to deal with certain existential questions. The film even in the final frame strikes a deeper chord in the hearts of the audience.
Hats off to the little jollu, pappu and other ‘railway children’ who bring life into the characters by their natural skills! The film makes one ponder deeper even after the images have just passed by.  
- Melwyn Pinto SJ