Story of girl begging in Pune inspires short film

A scene from Muskaan, which was screened at NFAI.

While passing through Nal Stop in Pune, Rahul Panshikar, proprietor of Rahul’s Grafix Photography Studio, would often see an 11-year-old girl begging at the traffic signal. He learnt that her name was Muskaan and she lived on the footpath with her family, who also begged. Wondering how children like Muskaan could be empowered to do something other than begging, Panshikar decided to make a short film.

Titled Muskaan, the film was recently screened at National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and will also be travelling to Annabhau Sathe Short Film Festival in Pune, Jaipur International Film Festival, Delhi Short Film Festival and Mumbai Asian Short Film Festival, among others.

Says Panshikar: “I told the girl that I would give her chocolates, not money, if she stopped begging. However, I soon realised that was not going to stop her, as that is all she had been programmed to do.”

Panshikar says, “There are lakhs of small children begging on the streets in India with the number increasing by the day. This is slowly turning into an industry and unless we make a conscious effort to stop this, the situation will only worsen. Muskaan aims towards helping India’s footpath residents live a life of dignity and self-respect.”

Although Panshikar was keen on shooting the film with the actual Muskaan, he could not because of resistance from her family. “Thus she’s seen only at the end of the film,” he adds.

The film was shot in September on the traffic signal near Mrityunjay Mandir, Kothrud and at Rahul’s studio. “The message we want to convey is that every citizen can contribute directly or indirectly in empowering children and ensure a better future for India,” says Panshikar.