Books have changed the lives of nearly a thousand teenagers from the South Dum Dum Municipality area.

Children of household help, few of them went to school a decade ago and even those who did dropped out after Class V. Most of the girls were married off by 12 or 13, while the boys started working or took to addiction. Things changed with project Muktadhara in 2010.

The transformation has been captured in a 15-minute film called Muktadhara that was launched at BITM on August 30.

NGOs Praajak and Child Rights and You (CRY) used picture books to instil the love of knowledge among these first-generation learners. Every book told a story, related to simple day-to-day activities like what a girl sees while posting a letter.

“The children were divided into teams and handed out picture books. The visuals started appealing to them. They were encouraged to exchange the books with the other team members, quiz them on the new words learnt and play different games involving chapters of the book. They even performed short skits,” said Deep Purkayastha, the director of Praajak.

The kids gradually developed an interest in books. Some returned to mainstream schools.

Many of the children featured in the film were also present at the launch. “It was the first time I was part of a film. I learnt a lot from the two days of facing the camera. Talking about our homes, I realised how vulnerable we really are and how important it is for children to have a voice,” said Tithi Saha, 16, who is now in Class VII.

Puja Halder, 14, said she enjoyed working on the film in between lessons.

The book game has also minimised child marriage in the area, Purkayastha said.

The chief guest at the film launch was R.P. Yadav, the MD and chairman, Genius Consultants.