Delhi-based Harsh Mayar (13) is one of four children adjudged best child artistes of 2010 at the 58th National Film Awards of the Government of India staged in New Delhi on May 18, for his award-winning performance in the 87-minute feature film I am Kalam. The other children were Shantanu Rangnekar and Machindra Gadkar for their roles in Champions, and Vivek Chabukswar in Baboo Band Bajaa. The quartet will share the Rajat Kamal award comprising a silver lotus and Rs.50,000.
A class VIII student of the Yogi Arvind Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Delhi, Harsh was among the 1,000-plus students who auditioned for the central role of ‘Chotu’ in the low-budget (Rs.2 crore) film produced by the Delhi-based Smile Foundation. The film’s universally appealing message is that every child wants to — indeed dreams of — going to school.
One of two siblings with a penchant for the stage, Harsh owes his rise to national prominence to his family comprising his father Ashok, a businessman and mother Reeta, a housewife, who encouraged his extra-curricular education. His London-based maternal uncle sponsored a summer theatre workshop at Delhi’s Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. The finer points of the thespian’s art that Harsh learnt at the kendra helped him best other aspirants who auditioned for Chotu’s role.
The film itself has received wide acclaim both at home and overseas since it premiered at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival last year, and has received 12 national and international awards, notable amongst them being the Young Jury Award at the Inter-national Film Festival of India in Goa, the Aravindan Puras-karam (best debut director) in 2010, and the People’s Choice Award at the prestigious Montreal International Children’s Film Festival in 2011.
Though really proud of his new-found talent, Harsh’s parents are concerned that his passion for the stage and arclights could affect his studies. However, Harsh — who met former President Abdul Kalam just before the film went on the floor — is confident he can do the balancing act. “I am aware of the importance of education and I certainly won’t neglect my studies,” he says.
With the success of his debut film, this promising youngster wants to pursue acting more avidly and refine his talent. “Having won the best child artiste award in my very first film, I have a reputation to maintain,” he says.
Way to go, Sonny!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
Samarth Jain
The Future is Now, a 30-slides multimedia presentation which sends out a ringing message to save the earth, has bagged little green crusader Samarth Jain (10) first rank in the sub-junior category (class III-IV) of the National Graphics Championship (NGC) 2010 conducted in October last year, the results of which were announced recently. The impressive winner’s trophy (although not the Rs.8,000 prize money) occupies pride of place on the living room mantelpiece of the proud family of this class V student of Bangalore’s BGS Inter-national School.
The son of Manish Jain, a banking professional turned consultant and homemaker Sindhu Bala, this budding computer enthusiast generously gives credit to his support team for his latest success. “I owe it all to my school principal, art teacher and parents,” says Samarth.
Conducted by the Computer Literacy Foundation of India (CLFI), a Delhi-based NGO, NGC is an annual competition for school students of classes III-XII. CLFI’s objective in staging this annual championship which attracts 5,000-7,000 entries from students countrywide, is to generate interest in computer science.
An infant prodigy who started doodling with crayons at age three, Samarth went digital in class I at the age of six, when his principal introduced him to thinkquest.org — an online portal of the Oracle Education Found-ation — on which he started to develop projects using text, pictures and multimedia.
Samarth’s first competitive success at the national level came for a unique project in Hindi that won him acclaim from close to 1,000 teachers globally. In 2009, this precocious child won his first international art contest conducted by Look and Learn Art, an online magazine, when his project based on the theme ‘numbers’ was judged second-best from among 300,000 entries.
Designing the school diary for the current academic year has been a “very great honour” bestowed upon him by BGS International principal, S.A. Nair. Samarth has also designed the cover page of Tagore: The Modern Man of Yesteryears, a national publication to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
A consistent academic topper, this child whiz is also a yoga practitioner, a cricket and chess enthusiast. “I am a great admirer of our former President and eminent scientist Dr. A.P.J. Kalam. I want to follow in his footsteps to make Planet Earth a better and safer place,” says Samarth.
Wind in your sails!
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)