New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has decided to use cartoons based on Indian culture, mythology and ethos to stop the cultural onslaught by kids shows based on foreign characters.
Doordarshan is attempting to take on the foreign cartoon channels being beamed in the country by launching it’s own kids specific channel soon. The DD kids channel will broadcast cartoons and programmes that seek inspiration from Indian culture, history and heroes. Sources stated that programmes in the new channel will be rooted in Indian culture and history that the children of the country would be able to relate to. It is understood that the issue of starting a kids channel came to the fore during the research for finalising DD free dish channel bouquet. There was demand from several quarters for a kids channel that could serve to the needs of the children based on Indian perspective. “It was found that in several instances, kids in the country were unable to relate to the concepts, food habits, cultural and living habits shown in popular cartoon programmes like Shin Chan, Doraemon, Ninja Hattori. As most of these are foreign dubbed serials, they do not show the true Indian culture and hence the need for such a channel,” sources stated. The channel is expected to focus on Indian cartoon characters that kids can relate to easily and they are not expected to be a cultural shock to them in terms of depicting living, eating and other lifestyle habits, sources added.
Speaking to this newspaper, DG Doordarshan Supriya Sahu stated that the channel would plug the gap for kids slot in the DD free dish bouquet.
