Deaf Entertainment is bringing the magic of movies to new audiences

Movies have the ability to inspire, educate and entertain all of us. Now, there’s a bunch of filmmakers who are out to enable deaf audiences to experience some of this magic.

The movie business is huge in India and everyone loves to experience the magic of films. However, most films are captioned in English which put them out of reach of people who are deaf and hard of hearing. Now, a bunch of dynamic deaf youth are out to change this picture with their venture called Deaf Entertainment.

Deaf Entertainment is out to make films by deaf people for deaf audiences. Recently, they screened nine films in Mumbai and NewzHook reporters, Shalaka Pol and Arti Umrotkar were present at the event.

Around 800 people attended the show and enjoyed the experience. The movies shown had deaf actors and the mode of communication was sign language. Captions were provided and there were sound effects so everyone could enjoy them, include hearing audiences.

Some of the films screened were A Parent’s Worst Nightmare, Cancer, Divorce, and Brainwash – all of them productions of Deaf Entertainment. The movies covered various genre like comedy, horror, social thoughts, parenting, to name a few.

Mainstream movies are not accessible for deaf people. We wanted to make films that are inclusive and for the entertainment of the deaf community. The team of Deaf Entertainment has worked very hard for months to bring the films in their present form. The feedback of the audience has given us a lot of motivation and we will continue making these movies. – Mervyn Pereira, Co-founder, Deaf Entertainment

These young moviemakers are self-taught with no formal training in cinema. Driving them is a passion for cinema supported by YouTube tutorials.

Debut actor Biswa Mishra said much effort went into the films. “This was the first time that I acted in a movie. I had no idea it involved such hard work. We rehearsed for hours until we got the shots perfect”.

Harshali Bhatia, a newcomer too, is thrilled with the response. “I hope to continue working in the deaf movies as I loved the experience.

GET IN TOUCH: WhatsApp the team at +91-98925 92544

Watch in Sign Language