Woh Ghar
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Woh Ghar (Hindi: वो घर, Kannada: ಆ ಮನೀ ) is a Tele film directed by Girish Karnad. The telefilm stars 15 Children in leading roles, all then students of Delhi Kannada School besides Ram Gopal Bajaj and BV Karanth in brief appearances. It was premier released exclusively for Doordarshan India, in April (?date needed?) 1986
The Background
On the pattern of American Playhouse presented by the Public Broadcasting System in the Unites States, Doordarshan India agreed to screen a selection of Modern Indian plays on contemporary themes, written and presented by well known playwrights and producers. The concept of teledramas was conceived by Ram Gopal Bajaj - actor and director of the National School of Drama (NSD).[1]
B&B Video Pvt Limited roped in Popular Film Actor - producer - director, Girish Karnad, to do a Tele-film on popular Kannada playwright Kirtinath Kurtakoti's Kannada Novel, "Aa Mani" (Kannada : "ಆ ಮನೀ"), which means "That House" in Kannada. The Telefilm, being shot for Doordarshan India, was to be in Hindi, and was thus named "Woh Ghar". Known for his eye for details, Mr. Karnad insisted on having Kannada background children who could speak Hindi, for his lead play. The telefilm mainly casts 15 children in age group 8-11 from Delhi Kannada School, New Delhi.
The story is set in rural Karnataka background and shows a bunch of children playing enacting adult life through a game, innocently depicting social dogmas of the prevailing era, such as child marriage, dowry and superstitions.
The movie includes two musical scores, "Kanya dhan paraya hai apna" and "Suno suno ektara bole"; the latter filmed on the famous playwright BV Karanth.
The movie begins with a bunch of kids running out of School as the school bells rings - the children all gathering under a tree to play the famous Karnataka Rural Game of "Marakoti Aata" (Kannada : ಮರಕೋತಿ ಆಟ) or the tree monkey game.
Later on, the children get together, to 'play' the story of life by copying elders what they see through their innocent eyes, even when words like Dowry and Marriage were hardly understood in true sense. They copy adult life, play parents, care for their children, and even "marry off" their children.
The shooting took about 21 days (three weeks)in a crumbling old Haveli (Large House) at Mehrauli at the outskirts of Delhi, near the historic Qutub Minar.
All participating children wore rustic hairstyles and makeup, in an effort to look like village urchins, with traditional 'lehenga'-top dresses for girls and the boys sporting a 'pancha' (a style of dhoti wearing) and Khadi 'Kurtas'. Some even had Shendi's to sport, the typical old world Brahmin pony tail.
