School kids in Kaccha Limboo

Producers of Kacchha Limboo, which releases later this month, have shot with actual school children rather than actors.

Producers of Kacchha Limboo, which releases later this month, have shot with actual school children rather than actors. Commenting on the long time it took to select children from about 25 to 30 schools across the city, director Sagar Bellary says, “We did not want children who had already acted in films because they come with a lot of baggage. Also, their parents want them to be treated like stars. We didn’t want that to happen so we decided to shoot with non-actors. I wanted to give a chance to several kids who aspire to be actors.”

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“We sent about 10,000 forms to various schools. We realised that the 6000 kids who sent us the feedback forms were very naughty. I believe that mischievous kids will take over the country one day. We chose about 150-170 kids of which 30-40 boys and 40 girls were made to play kids in the classroom. Those who closely fit our character requirement were given the main roles,” adds Bellary.

Since the film revolves around teenagers, the forms were distributed to students from the seventh, eighth and ninth standard. The filmmakers short-listed about 200 kids who were called to Famous Studio for a one-day workshop where they were showed Akira Kurosawa films and also learnt how to improvise their acting skills.

Twenty-five children were then sent for a special workshop where they were taught to act like real kids rather than like typical child actors. “We selected the best footages from whatever we had shot over a period of time,” says Bellary.