Jhalki, a powerful film: entertaining and meaningful at the same time

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Jhalki is a powerful film all the way. Not only does it explore a delicate subject like human trafficking and child labour but it also sets precedent of a girl child super-hero without a cape, in search of her brother and eventually rescuing him.

She is focussed, solution-seeking, courageous and has the ability to relate a folk story to real life and keep moving ahead in her pursuit.

Kailash Satyarthi's life-time of work of his crusade against human trafficking and child labour gets crystalized into one smooth story of conviction, courage and love. And what gets questioned in the process, is the inhuman practice of the people reaping benefit from the racket.

Rarely do we see meaningful films with serious backdrop which are so entertaining, engaging and inspiring. Little surprise then that the film Jhalki has gathered 16 awards in 21 International Film Festivals in just six-seven months and winning hearts of children and grown-ups alike and panels are bing set-up for debates and action-points to tackle a problem that is not just prevalent in India but the world over.

Jhalki (Aarti Jha) scores very high in her nigh-octane performance. And Babu (Goraksha Sakpal), in his childlike charm, innocence and lost looks (the need of the script).

Together these two give seasoned actors like Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Divya Dutta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Joy Sengupta and Govind Namdev a run for their acting prowess and reputation.

The end result is a compelling film with excellent performances, important subject, entertaining narrative, excellent cinematography, crisp editing and powerful, groovy and melodious music and songs.

It takes a lot of courage to make films like these in today's mainstream entertainment context and even more to pull it off with the kind of aplomb that director Brahmanand S Siingh and Tanvi Jain do.

If Cinema for Change can be so entertaining, we can be quite hopeful that after this film, many more will follow suit to explore subjects that need attention without compromising on the entertainment element in it.

Starring: Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Divya Dutta, Tanishtha Chatterjee, Govind Namdev, Joy Sengupta

Special Appearance: Nobel Peace Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi

Produced by Annand Chavan (OMG) and Mobius Films; Co-produced by Vinayak Gawande and Jayesh Parekh; Co-directed by Tanvi Jain

Story: Prakash Jha and Brahmanand S Singh

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