India's first film on child terrorism to be released in Feb

The country's first film on the use of children in terrorist activities - 'Billu Ustaad' - is slated for release on February 16.

The film in Hindi seeks to inspire children to learn self-defence from the character of brave child Billu, who fights terrorists and succeeds in freeing other children from the clutches of terrorists, says director Suvahhdan Angre.

Shantanu Singh has produced the film, while playback singers Kailash Kher and Vaishali Samant have rendered songs with their melodious voice. Music has been composed by Srirang Aras.

The film focuses on the recent trend among terrorist organisations to lure children living in orphanages for terrorist activities after brainwashing them. It tells the story of a terrorist organisation in which some children of an orphanage are influenced to carry live bombs to spread terror in public places.

Billu,  an inmate of the same orphanage, helps Anti-Terrorist Squad of Maharashtra Police in bringing back to the mainstream the children who have been swayed by terrorist organisations by convincing them that they were being hired for activities against humanity, says Suvahhdan.

The film also highlights the adverse role of alleged terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed last year in Kashmir and declared a martyr by Pakistan. The film shows how an orphanage gets involved in terrorist and criminal activities, while ATS fights to save children from being dragged into terror acts, says producer Shantanu Singh.

The film tells the story of Billu and his friends at the orphanage and how brave Billu saves his friends from the noose of terrorist organisations. It also shows how ATS influences Billu to convince his friends that by helping terrorists they are in fact ruining society and harming mankind.

The film highlights media reports indicating that there are thousands of small and big outlets for Jihadi groups, which train children in India and abroad to spread terrorism. The film also depicts Kashmir, worst hit by terrorist activities.

Inspired by ATS

The film has been inspired by the work of Bhanupratap Barge, Head of Pune Unit of ATS-Maharashtra, who played an important role in fighting terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. It also tries to buttress the Central Government's claim that Pakistan has emerged as the centre of all terrorist activities against India and involved in crimes against humanity.

The title role of Billu is played by child artist Mihir Soni, who had earlier worked with actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar in the latter's film Kutumb. Other important casts in 'Billu Ustaad' are Priyanshu Chatterjee, Akhilendra Mishra, Mithila Naik, Neel Bakshi, Atharav Nelerkar, Rakhi, Saiesh Araskar, Deepraj Rana, Sneha Arun and K K Goswami.