Movie Review: Jhalki

Producer-Brahmanand S. Siingh and Annand Chavan

Directors-Brahmanand S. Siingh and Tanvi Jain

Star Cast- Boman Irani, Tannishtha Chatterjee ,Divya Dutta ,Sanjay Suri , Joy Senguptra, Aarti Jha  and Goraksh Sakpal

Genre- Social

Rating- ***1/2 (Three and a half)

Heartwarmingly Emotional!

 Jyothi Venkatesh

In a twinkle of an eye, the life-altering disappearance of her 7-year old kid brother sets Jhalki off on a mission to find him at all costs. The story, by Prakash Jha and Brahmanand Siingh, is interwoven with an old folk tale albeit in shadow animation in sequences of the tireless sparrow who seeks help retrieving a grain from a bamboo chute. She implores a carpenter, a king, his queen, a snake, a stick, fire, the sea and an elephant in her quest. Eventually, the elephant decides to help, setting off a chain reaction of sorts that leads to the sparrow getting her grain.

Little Jhalki boldly embarks on a relentless journey to find and free her brother. Unaware and ignorant of the deep-rooted corruption and cobwebs of the system, Jhalki dares to take on the monstrous and the conniving with a purity of pursuit that is at once uplifting and inspirational.

Is Jhalki’s journey the start of a spiral that will change the lives of thousands for good? What price must she pay to get what she wants? Inspired by true events, with a backdrop of human-trafficking and child-labour, Jhalki becomes an atypical thriller of hope, courage, self-belief and perseverance in an inhuman world, seen through the eyes of a 9 year-old girl, who will not stop anywhere short of triumph. What makes you go gag a over this small budgeted film which will set you out to think and ponder with stunning visuals, breakthrough performances and a beautiful soundtrack, is that not only is it a heartfelt drama of love, adventure and intrigue, but also at the same time thought-provoking and poetic.

While debutant Aarti Jha has etched out a wonderful performance as the girl who sets out in search of her kid brother, Goraksh Sakpal is also good, as a debutante . Boman Irani though in a small cameo puts in a realistic performance as Kailash Satyarthi who is actively crusading against child trafficking in real life while both Divya Dutta as the District Collector’s wife and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the TV reporter  steal away the scenes. Sanjay Suri is competent as usual in a role which has shades while Joy Sengupta is good as the corrupt cop. Govind Namdeo who seems to be a fixture of every film these days is good as a bad man as usual. Brahmanand S Siingh scores not only as a writer but also a lyricist as well as producer.

This critic feels that Jhalki which was screened at the 10th Jagran Film Festival in Mumbai over a month ago on 26 September, though it does have a few flaws, especially its lazy pace, is a heartwarmingly emotional as well as a feel good film, which you should not give a miss. 

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Movie Review, Jhalki, Boman Irani, Tannishtha Chatterjee ,Divya Dutta ,Sanjay Suri , Joy Senguptra, Aarti Jha, Goraksh Sakpal