In 1974 — Ek Anek Aur Ekta (One, Many & Unity), a 7-minute animation film was released. It was written & co-directed by Vijaya Mulay – documentarian, film historian, educator & former head of NCERT’s Center for Educational Technology (CET).
The short film taught children about the ‘unity in diversity’ theme. A young girl teaches her little brother about the theme through a flock of birds. When a hunter catches some of the birds with his net, the other birds gather, & together they fly away with the net away from the clutches of the hunter. A group of friendly mice then gnawed at the net & finally freed the ‘netted’ birds.
Mulay was working in the Education Ministry, when she was asked to make a series of films for children, in association with UNICEF. The model was Britain’s Play School & US government programs
The Education Ministry had decided to create education programs for Doordarshan. Till then Doordarshan’s programming was aimed at children in the 9+ age group, & there was almost nothing for children in the 6 – 9 year age group.
The kind-hearted older sister telling the story was no coincidence. While researching for the film, Mulay later wrote: “A major feature of the patriarchy syndrome has been that only the male characters can be agents of action. The strong, intelligent & noble male acts; the passive woman usually suffers in silence”. She wanted this to change through her work.
Ek Anek Aur Ekta was popular & enduring. The reasons are –
The film’s co-director, design, & animation was by Bhimsain. The sound of the young girl was six-year-old Sadhna Sargam, who later became a famous playback singer.
Vasant Desai gave the music with lyrics by Pandit Vinay Chandra Maudgalya.
Waman Guru (Waman Bhosle & Guru Dutt Shirali) did the editing.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Educational Film & the Best Children’s Film award in Japan. The film is considered to be one of India’s greatest examples of animation story-telling.
Today Ek Anek Aur Ekta is considered a classic, but it is important to remember its end goal – cultivating a spirit of tolerance & mutual respect that is not widely available in our country today.
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