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Journalism of Courage
NOVEMBER 7: Thirteen-year-old Kartik Krishna Ayyar can8217;t wait for January 1, 2000 to dawn. And it8217;s not the dream of a new millennium that has him so excited, it8217;s television. On January 1, Kartik will become cartoon character Construction Man, powering his way through 60-second interstitials on a roller-coaster on the TNT Cartoon Network.
Kartik and four other Mumbai children, all winners of TNT8217;s Get Tooned contest, will compete with Scooby Doo, Daffy Duck and the entire network gang for air space beginning next year. They will all get a chance to see their own animated selves on the TNT Cartoon Network.
Kartik8217;s journey from an ordinary schoolboy to Construction Man began when he wrote to the channel telling them 8220;what was socartoony about him8221;. Even as Kartik was mailing his letter, Waleed Khot, Kanchan Matkar, Nirzari Mangeshikar and Urvashi Lele were all picking up their pens as well. And a couple of weeks back, they all got a call from the network asking them to get ready for some prime time in front of the camera.
Twelve-year-old Nirzari Mangeshikar has grown up playing Ghostbusters and her favourite cartoon characters are The Smurfs. But winning the contest gave her a reel chance to kick up a storm as Ninja Girl. 8220;During the shooting, they asked me to stand against a backdrop and make all kinds of poses,8221; says Nirzari. 8220;I had to do some karate chops also. They will take this footage and animate it.8221;
Kanchan Matkar is a pro at contests. 8220;She enters a lot of contests,8221; says her mother Jyotsana Matkar. 8220;In fact we didn8217;t know about this at all till the phone call came.8221; Kanchan8217;s prize, other than the gift hamper all winners got, is a chance to play princess. In her role as Flamenco Kid, Kanchan has a band ofrobots as followers. 8220;They have taken a number of my shots. They asked me to smile, frown, sulk. They will show my original face on the show first and then the animated one,8221; she beams.
The youngest of the lot, seven-year-old Urvashi Lele was also very secretive about entering the contest. She only asked her mother for stamps and permission to take out a picture from the album. Her entry, 8220;I watch so much cartoons, my mother said I look like one8221;, gave her a chance to play roller-coaster kid. And 10-year-old Waleed, who likes Popeye, plays Banana Man.
Facing the camera for the first time, the 8220;toony five8221; gave it their best shot. And they are all confident that they will look swell on television. 8220;I don8217;t think I8217;ll look funny,8221; says Kartik confidently. 8220;I have informed all my friends and everybody will be tuned in.8221;
