Mumbai, April 1, 2026
Actor-filmmaker Saurabh Shukla has weighed in on the debate around the lack of films for children in today’s cinema, asserting that it has not disappeared but rather evolved with changing times and societal shifts.
Addressing concerns about the reduced number of films catering to children, Saurabh explained that what audiences perceive as “innocence” is closely tied to the psychology of a particular era.
Talking about Bollywood earlier catering to children with films such as Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Makdee, Bhoothnath, Bhooth Uncle, Taare Zameen Par and Stanley Ka Dabba, has the industry today lost its innocence, given the apparent dearth of films in this genre?
“No, who says that?,” Saurabh told IANS.
Addressing concerns about the reduced number of films catering to children, Shukla explained that what audiences perceive as “innocence” is closely tied to the psychology of a particular era.
“There was a child psychology… Whereas, the child psychology now, as a society, has changed… It’s a changing society,” he added.
“So it’s not like that. No innocence is lost.”
The actor further noted that while children today are exposed to far more information due to the digital age, it does not mean innocence has vanished.
“Yes, of course. We are in an information age and kids are exposed to much more than what we were exposed to. But that’s how life is. It’ll go on like that.”
Saurabh recently directed “Jab Khuli Kitaab,” which released on OTT.
The film follows the story of an old couple, Gopal and Anusuya, and their decades-long marriage, which is upended by a revelation. As secrets emerge, the family navigates emotions that are both touching and comedic, exploring love, companionship, and forgiveness, and rediscovering one another.
It is a cinematic adaptation of his own stage play of the same name. The film stars Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia as an elderly couple who decide to seek a divorce after 50 years of marriage.(Agency)
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