Smile Pinki- Documentary Review

Content:

The documentary opens with its workers traveling throughout India, spreading by posters and personal contact, the information that children who have this facial deformity can be helped.

Smile Pinki, Academy Award winning best documentary short subject (2008), is the heart warming and true story of a brave little girl named Pinki who waited six long years for life-changing cleft surgery. When Pinki was born with a severe cleft lip, everyone in her village was surprised. They had never seen anyone with an untreated cleft before. With no education and unable to read or write, Pinki’s parents had no idea that their daughter’s cleft could be treated. But one day, a social worker told Pinki’s parents about a free cleft treatment program for the poor. Pinki and her father set off on foot, to find Smile Train’s local partner hospital in Benares, India, that would ultimately give Pinki not just a new smile, but a second chance at life.

Picturization:

Social worker, Pankaj Kumar Singh, travels rural India, talking in markets and schools to get the word out about cleft palate and to tell people that there is nothing to be ashamed about and that the cleft palate can be repaired for free. Knowledgeable and friendly, Pankaj is direct and persuasive with reluctant parents, carefully explaining the process to families desperate for help. He makes the children he visits in schools promise to spread the word.

This, the film suggests, is the life available to children with cleft deficiencies, if only they undergo corrective surgery. (From here, Rajendra adds, his daughter can look forward to a better future: “If it’s done, she’ll be able to live a decent life and get married”).

Characters in the context of issues:

While at one school, Pankaj learns of a little girl named Pinki Kumari Sonkar who has cleft palate. They travel to her family's village in Mirzapur District and meet with Pinki's father, Rajendra. Pinki's parents believe that she was born with a cleft palate because of an eclipse that happened while Pinki was in her mother's womb. Pankaj invites her parents to bring her to G.S. Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital in Banaras for free treatment. They agree to do so. They will be responsible for transportation to Banaras and will have to pay for their food. Other than that, all medicine and surgery costs will be covered. Pinki will have to stay in the hospital for seven days.

The film looks at the perspectives of a few other kids discovered by Pankaj, including 11-year-old Ghutaru, who not only stayed out of school but also mostly stopped talking (as his cleft palate affects his speech).

Concerns of childhood/adolescence:

Smile Pinki is a documentary that transcends the barriers of the usual documentary. The movie has been made with a purpose of educating and enlightening people that cleft lips are curable and that the procedure is a simple one which should be undertaken without fear. The impact of the movie is strongly felt through its protagonist Pinki, aka Pinka who is a five-year-old girl hailing from a backward family of a village in Mirzapur District in India. The documentary takes the viewers through the journey of Pinki’s surgery and recovery after the cleft lip operation. Despite its several technical shortcomings, the movie succeeds in achieving its objectives of creating awareness, which is evident from the fact that it won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary on Short Subject.

Conclusion:

In conclusion I can say that we should not discriminate the child who has cleft lips, we should not treat them differently. We should take initiative to provide awareness about this. Child with cleft lips should be treated equally as other children in schools as well. It is the responsibility of the teacher to educate the children about their behaviour towards the child with cleft lips.