A still from Mahek Mirza screened at the children’s film festival at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 18: The confused yet talented 11-year old Mahek Mirza stole hearts of young film viewers in the city with her acting skills at a children’s film festival organised by the state culture department.

Kranti Kanade’s award-winning film Mahek Mirza named after the protagonist was screened on Sunday at the Rabindra Mandap auditorium. Kids in the city, who had been looking forward to come out of the house as soon as the summer bade goodbye, were seen flocking to the film festival.

With vacations still on, the children got an opportunity to enjoy while getting a few lessons of life from Mahek Mirza, a 2007 film produced by the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI).

The 80-minute film was the fun-filled story of a schoolgirl Mahek, who lacked inspiration and the drive to do anything in reality, even things she always dreamt of doing. She would dream of success in different fields but was confused about what her passion actually was.

However, Mahek meets an old woman who inspires her to follow what she loves most. The little girl then decides to put in her efforts at writing an essay for a contest at school. But dissatisfied with her work, she throws her write-up in a dustbin at home and does not submit it to the teacher.

Her parents, however, send her entry through a friend and to Mahek’s surprise she wins the first prize. Interestingly, the whether the old woman was real or a figment of Mahek’s imagination was something the filmmaker leaves for the audience to guess. The funny sequences and psychology of children reflected in the film made it a favourite among the young viewers in the city. “I enjoyed every minute of the film. I also love to write but I am also good at chess. So, I was confused but now I know I should love what I do to be happy like Mahek was in the ending,” said 12-year-old Simi.

Among viewers at the festival was State Film Award winning child actor Ankit Anurag. Culture minister Prafulla Samal and culture secretary Ashok Tripathy were also present on the occasion.

“We have chosen 11 films made by CFSI that will be screened one after another in this regular series of children’s film festival that will be held on the first and fourth Saturday of every month,” said Samal. “We will take the same films to all districts where an edition of the same festival will be organised soon,” he added.