Shocking: Little Kids Made To Enact Toilet Jokes On Sa Re Ga Ma Li’l Champs

It seems filmmakers Shoojit Sircar  and Amole Gupte had a  point when they spoke up against children participating in reality shows.

On Sa Re Ga Ma Li’l Champs this weekend viewers  were shocked to see little children ,  some no  older than 7-8, participating in  toilet  jokes to facilitate the promotion of Akshay Kumar’s new release Toilet Ek Prem Katha which tackles  the sensitive subject of toilet hygiene and privacy.

Noble  subject with huge social relevance. But why were children subjected to jokes on the subject which  centred on kids using an artificial commode to sing songs suggesting the act of defecation, while the film’s hero  Akshay Kumar and the congregation of  judges, musicians and the  underage participants  laughed their rockers off?

Firstly, toilet hygiene  is  not a laughing matter, and certainly not with kids around. In fact  by reducing the toilet theme to a joke the  film’s team is making mockery of its own intentions. Secondly, the whole campaign to promote the  film through insistent  references  to bodily functions has put audiences on the defence.

Says a very senior filmmaker who also heads one  of cinema’s most important governing bodies, “Yeh kya inn logon ne sundaas sundaas laga rakha hai? Beyond a point it has gotten embarrassing.  There was no need for such aggressive campaigning for this  film.The theme  and its message should have been allowed to reach the audience on their own without so much pushing and  plugging.”

One hopes the aggressuive campaign doesn’t backfire. After crippling debacles like Tubelight, Jagga Jasoos and Jab Harry Met SejalBollywood desperately needs a  hit.