Politics behind Children Television in India: A case study on the representation of Indian Festivals in Chhota Bheem Animated series

Abstract

Nowadays, Television and Cartoon shows are every day part of Children. In India, most of the Television Animated Series are imported and dubbed from other countries. These imported animated series, like Tom & Jerry, Doreamon, etc contain comedy and technology related stories. But most of the Indian made Television Animation series contain a huge amount of religious content. Chhota Bheem is an Indian made Animated Series and one of the most viewed animated series in India. This series has been translated and dubbed in some regional languages like Tamil and Telugu, so it reaches not quite all the kids in India. There are lots of episodes and special videos for Indian Festivals in Chhota Bheem series. Festivals in India are the reflection of social and cultural values of any society. So it has been important to study the way media show these festivals, especially, the children Television. Existing literature confirmed that chhota bheem character is a spin-off on the adult version of Bhima from the epic Mahabharata. This Research is aimed to study the politics behind children television in India. It will also look into the representation of Indian Festivals in Children Television channels particularly chhota bheem Animated series. So, the Research questions are, Which Religion is predominantly represented in chhota bheem? Which State/Region Festivals are represented in chhota bheem? What is the Political agenda behind this series?  To study these questions, Content Analysis method is used here. The Universe is chhota bheem. Under the Purposive sampling, episodes of Indian Festivals have been chosen. Some of the important findings are: Hindu Religious characters especially Krishna and Ram are predominantly used. North Indian Festivals are the major telecasted festivals.