When a show was arranged in Kadavanthra’s Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium, for interaction with ‘MAD’ Rob, over 500 children turned up. Nobody including Harun Robert, the anchor-cum-creative director of the MAD show in POGO channel, was surprised, however. “I love kids and being with kids.
Most of my audiences are kids and it is a challenge because it is very difficult to please them. Now they have lots of options such as television, Internet, etc. It is very hard to hold their attention for a television show. But I succeed in it and get good feedback from all over the world,” he says.
In a country where every good student aspires to be a doctor or computer engineer, Rob knew early on that his career lay in art. “I was a science student and very good in studies. But my parents saw my passion towards art and allowed me to join the Delhi College of Arts where I did my graduation in fine arts and did an animation course from Ahmedabad,” says Rob.
His background in animation took him to Mumbai where he did work for children’s TV programmes. He auditioned for a show in POGO and his dream career was made. “Now I am not only an anchor but also the creative director of the show. I decide most of the content and design of the show.”
He is known for his ideas to make useful stuff out of junk. “I am always thinking about how to make a thing more beautiful, productive and visually pleasing. If we get a plastic bottle or a box, I work on it and transform it into a toy car or something else,” Rob says.
Unlike many who work with children, he is no critic of the conventional education system and says that our education system is fantastic. But he hastens to add that in the case of art, it is necessary to introduce new modes of teaching. “Parents should encourage children to take up art and find out what they like and what they need,” he says.
