Mangaluru,: Department of postgraduate studies and research in English, St Aloysius College (Autonomous) Mangaluru, organised a master class on the movie 'Railway Children'.

Prithvi Konanur, director of 'Railway Children', prof Vishnumurthy Prabhu, associate producer of Railway Children were on the panel. Fr Dr Praveen Martis SJ, principal, St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, graced the occasion.

'Railway children' is a kannada feature film and is inspired by the real incidences experienced by the NGO Sathi and from the research book 'Rescuing Railway Children' by Lalitha Iyer and Malcolm Harper. By exploring various themes such as physical abuse, addiction, sexual abuse, the movie effectively conveys the innocent worldview of runaway kids and it is this innocence that propels the characters and gives the courage to survive in the cruel world.

Principal Fr Dr Praveen Martis SJ narrated his personal experiences with the runaway kids. He stressed the importance of sharing love and warmth with those children who lead such difficult lives. He also congratulated the postgraduate department of English for conducting such sessions that enrich the knowledge of students regarding the realities of the world around them.

The chief guest, prof Vishnumurthy spoke about his journey through 'Railway Children' and explained how difficult it was to arrange for funds to produce a non-commercial film and the response of the audience in different film festivals where 'Railway Children' was screened. He said it was the response of the audience in film festivals that made them to add music before its theatrical release. He also asked the students to watch their previous movie 'Alegalu'.

Prithvi Konanur narrated some of the real instances which inspired the making of 'Railway Children'. He focussed more on the technical aspects of the movie, his experience of learning to make movies in New York Film Academy and brought out the differences in the production and distribution of Hollywood and Indian movies. He said that story is more important for him as a director than the issues while answering to one of the questions raised by a student.

Students of MA English, Sahodaya, AICUF and teachers of the postgraduate department of English were present during the session.