Feroz Abbas Khan creates a series of short animation films on pandemic

Feroz Abbas Khan creates a series to educate about the pandemic.

Animation series Hasya Kavi Potliwala uses poetry to address important issues during these troubling times. Population Foundation of India (PFI) has partnered with Government of India and Facebook for this animation series, as part of a national level campaign to curate and create verified, reliable and updated communication materials on the virus. The campaign aims to bring awareness across social media networks, state governments and NGOs in multiple languages.

For the campaign, PFI has created a series of short animation films on issues related to the pandemic. The first of these animation shorts is a bi-weekly series titled, Hasya Kavi Potliwala. The series is conceptualised and produced by theatre and film director Feroz Abbas Khan.

Khan tells us, "A loveable character is an accessible vehicle to get your message across quickly and effectively. If it is unique, short and entertaining, there is a probability of it going viral. The character of Hasya Kavi Potliwala has been carefully crafted so that it gets embedded in your memory and keeps popping up in conversations."

The series was launched on the MyGov's COVID-19 platform. The series features a poet called Potliwala, who recites a short poem in each film on issues related to the virus. These include aspects like use of masks, social distancing, precautions, stigma and discrimination. The series utilises entertainment education to share messages in an impactful and also entertaining manner.

Poonam Muttreja, executive director, PFI said, "There is an overload of information on social media and it is extremely hard to sift the truth from falsehood. PFI has worked on behavioural change strategies through entertainment shows for the empowerment of women in the past. We felt that in such sombre times, we need the right information to empower ourselves and some humour to tide over these grave times. Hasya Kavi Potliwala is an attempt to capture both."

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