How Child Actors Are Cast And Looked After On A Shoot
Child actors appear in a great many Indian ads, in films for biscuits, toothpaste, school supplies, insurance and almost anything sold to families. Casting them is a craft of its own, and looking after them on a shoot is not only good practice. Since 2017 it has been spelt out in law, with conditions every producer working with a child has to meet.
The child on set is a performer. They are also, first, a child.
How child actors are cast
Mostly through casting directors and agencies that keep databases of children whose parents have signed them up. The brief describes age, look and the kind of performance needed, and auditions are kept short and playful, because young children rarely perform to order in a strange room.
Casting teams watch for more than looks. A good child performer can take simple direction, stay comfortable around strangers and cameras, and has a parent who understands what a shoot day involves. Look tests and a quick chat with the family often decide more than the audition tape. For the bigger picture of how casting shapes a film, see how casting decides what an idea feels like.
The best child performance is usually a child who has forgotten the camera is there.
What the law requires
The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 bars children under 14 from work, but since its 2016 amendment it exempts a child working as an artist in the audio-visual entertainment industry, including advertisements, subject to prescribed conditions. The amendment rules notified in 2017 set those conditions out.
Before the shoot, the producer needs permission from the District Magistrate of the district where it takes place, with an undertaking, the list of children, their parents' consent and the name of the person responsible for their safety. A child may work no more than five hours a day, and no more than three hours without rest. Their schooling must continue, they may not work more than 27 consecutive days, and there must be at least one responsible person for every five children.
The rules also protect the money: at least 20 per cent of the child's earnings from the production must go into a fixed deposit in a nationalised bank in the child's name, available when they come of age. And no child may be made to take part against their will. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has issued guidelines for the entertainment industry that build on these rules.
How good productions look after child actors
By scheduling around them. The child's scenes are shot first, while they are fresh, and the five-hour limit is planned for in the shot list rather than discovered at lunch. Adults stand in for lighting and rehearsals.
A parent or guardian stays close, there is a quiet space away from the floor, food and rest are on time, and the crew is told who the child's responsible person is. Directors who are good with children keep instructions simple and turn scenes into games.
And they keep the child's experience in mind after the shoot. A film may run for years, and the child in it will grow up with it, which is a good reason to cast and direct them with the same care the law asks for on the day.
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