Children’s entertainment – Needs more local, creative content

Spearheaded by amazing series and films like "Hawa", "Poran", "Karagar", and "Syndicate" amongst many others, the Bangladeshi entertainment industry seems to be booming. However, amongst all this great work, one sector of the industry, children's entertainment has been somewhat neglected.

Finding a domestic show or film for children, that has been properly produced, has become increasingly difficult, leading kids to opt for foreign entertainment platforms—which resulted in them being exposed to foreign media and languages.

The present state of children's entertainment

Currently—even while the situation seems bleak—a single channel, Duronto TV, has dominated the field of children's entertainment in Bangladesh, with many 'edutainment' based shows.

"We produce and broadcast shows for an age range of infants to 12-year-olds, with an aim to introduce a few essential life lessons to them—be it moral or life skills—amidst all the fun and drama," says Sunjida Siddique Sumona, Head of Programmes of Duronto TV.

Over the last five years, Duronto TV has produced numerous shows for children, including "Lal Kohinur", "Adbhuture Boighor", "Amar Shonar Bangla" and "Guddubura", amongst many others.

Compared to the 90s, when Bangladesh had movies and series like "Dipu Number 2", "Emiler Goenda Bahini", and "Notun Kuri", the children's entertainment industry is currently playing second fiddle to foreign shows and films.

"Since resuming operations in late 2017, we have produced over 35 drama series, of which some are of more than 100 episodes," said Sunjida. "However, we are a relatively new television channel, with only five years of experience behind us. At the same time, we are also the first channel to focus solely on children's entertainment. We need time to mature and create more significant content."

The children of today seem to be engrossed in the content provided by foreign platforms, as the lack of domestically produced content leaves then unsatisfied.

Cartoons like "Motu Patlu" and "Chota Bheem", among others, are easily accessible for young kid, through online platforms like YouTube.

"Children like fast-paced cartoons that are fun and adventurous, blended together with music. Much of the foreign shows and films watched by children are tailored around these elements. Educational aspects are usually packaged together with all the exciting elements children enjoy," said Sunjida.

According to Abhijit Chowdhury, the Director of Duronto TV, the recent increase in children watching foreign shows has been due to easy access to the Internet and technology. He shared, "The foreign cartoons or shows are made keeping the culture and traditions of that country in mind. Many of our children speak Hindi better than Bengali, due to easy access to the internet."

"Even though we wish to let the children know more about our heritage, moral values, life skills and healthy habits, our shows are presented in the form of fun and adventure, leaving the classroom approach out of it," mentioned Abhijit.

Where has the industry fallen short?

Bangladesh currently has a population of over 166 million and according to the World Bank, children make up nearly 26 percent of our population. This equates to over 45 million children, which is quite a large audience base.

However, famed foreign shows and cartoons like "Tom and Jerry", "Alif Laila", "He-Man", "Looney Toons" and "Thunder Cats", amongst many others, have dominated the children's entertainment scene in Bangladesh since the 90s.

Currently, the trend of dubbing foreign shows has gained quite a bit of popularity in Bangladesh, which has led to local channels dubbing foreign cartoons and children's shows in Bengali.

Multiple television channels like Duronto TV, Maasranga TV and BTV have also opened their own YouTube channels or online platforms, where they are providing Bengali-dubbed content for children.

 "I am well aware that there is a severe lack of children's content in Bangladesh," said Sazzad Sumon, director of the popular show "Mashrafe Junior". "At the very least, they are in Bengali instead of the original foreign language."

Sazzad Sumon and the team of "Mashrafe Junior" are now trying to make their series one that both parents and children can enjoy together.

Similarly, Abhijit Chowdhury shared, "One of our core concepts is to focus on our native language i.e. Bengali."

After "Meena", one of the most appreciated cartoons, that has been locally produced, is the film "Tomorrow". Directed by Mohammad Shihab Uddin, the half an hour-long animation was not only dubbed into English, but also in Chinese and Spanish as well.

Concerning the status of children's entertainment, Ezaz Uddin Ahmed, Head of Programme, Deepto TV, shared, "Due to the lack of marketing and sponsor support, it's quite difficult to create children's content. On top of that, even if we have an idea, we don't have adequate content creators and directors to turn it into a quality film or series."

"TV channels in Bangladesh can be accessed for free and therefore rely on revenue from advertisements. Had they been pay-per-view channels or had other sources of revenue, the overall quality of programmes across all channels, including Duronto, could be much better," he added.

Both Abhijit and Sunjida noted that there is no easy way to create good content and that it takes a lot of homework, in the form of pre-production, prior to the actual shooting and the necessary post-production operations.

"A well-researched, well-planned and well-executed production inevitably creates good content. However, producing children's content requires more research and time for execution and therefore it is more costly," added Abhijit.

Facing global competition

In the age of digitalisation, entertainment has also become digitalised. As such, domestically created content now has to compete on the international stage.

The programme producer of Duronto TV mentioned that during the COVID-19 lockdown, children throughout the nation turned to phones, tablets, computers and other technology for their entertainment needs, as they were stuck at home.

"Online platforms are the future. In this age, every phone, tablet, computer and similar devices are as good as a television," said Abhijit Chowdhury.

"With just a phone or tablet and an internet connection, any child can now watch an endless stream of content from across the world," he said. "Now, our content also needs to compete with global content. As a result, regular TV channels now have OTTs as new competitors."

On the other hand, commenting on the issue, Ezaz Uddin Ahmed shared, "I believe we need an iconic children's show, that will turn around the entire children's entertainment sector. Once such a popular show has been established, audiences and the sponsors will be interested in the sector once more."

Supporting the director of the Duronto TV, Abu Saif Ansari, the Director of Programme and Business Development, Sesame Workshop, Bangladesh shared his thoughts.

"As a show, 'Sisimpur' focuses on ensuring children have an enjoyable learning experience with entertaining content," he said. "In Bangladesh there is indeed a lack of media content which offers an adequate amount of 'edutainment' for our children."

"However, developing a quality product needs relevant research, effort and time. At the same time, we have to make the content inclusive of all socio-economic backgrounds, religions, genders and race. Which is also a challenge."

In Ansari's own words, the psychology of children is subtly affected by what they watch, usually in terms of behaviour, characteristics, cultural values and morals. "A show like 'Sisimpur' can continue to play a pivotal role in promoting Bangladeshi culture, art, empathy, social well-being and positive change, among the children of Bangladesh in the long term."

"Thus, the production of such a programme for a diverse society like ours is essential, but also requires extensive resources," he added.

Ansari also shared his thoughts concerning the business prospect of children's entertainment in Bangladesh.

"There is a massive opportunity here. Marketers can be more creative and responsible in this aspect," he said. "The children might not be the target audience, but their parents are. When it comes to ensuring a safe entertaining and learning experience for their children, parents will surely be interested, considering the limited options around."

While the picture painted might seem bleak, it is also important for us to take it as a call to action for artistes, producers, directors, content creators, and others to come forward and take this industry to newer, more positive heights.

“The foreign cartoons or shows are made keeping the culture and traditions of that country in mind. Many of our children speak Hindi better than Bengali, due to easy access to the internet” - Abhijit Chowdhury, the Director of Duronto TV