# Jhalki

Jhalki (transl. Glimpse) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Brahmanand S. Siingh, produced by Brahmanand S. Siingh (Mobius Films) and Annand Chavan (OMG), co-produced by Vinayak Gawande and Jayesh Parekh and co-directed by Tanvi Jain. The film featuring Boman Irani, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Divya Dutta and Sanjay Suri, follows a 9-year-old street girl Jhalki, setting out to find her 7-year-old brother against the backdrop of the child slavery trade. The trailer of the film was released at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.
The film has been premiered at various national and international film festivals and won 16 awards so far. It was released theatrically in India on 14 November 2019.

## Synopsis

A life-altering disappearance of her 7-year old brother sets Jhalki off on a mission to find him at all costs. Armed with an intimate folk-tale and her own sharp mind, 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, seen through the eyes of a 9-year-old girl, who will not stop anywhere short of a triumph.

## Cast

* Boman Irani as Kailash Satyarthi
* Tannishtha Chatterjee as Priti Vyas
* Divya Dutta as Sunita Bhartiya
* Sanjay Suri as DM Sanjay Bhartiya
* Joy Sengupta as SDM Akhilesh
* Ishaq Raza Khan
* Bachan Pachehra as Rahim Chacha
* Akhilendra Mishra as Shivlal Chakiya
* Govind Namdev as RamPrasad
* Yatin Karyekar as Sipahi
* Vikram Singh as Lakhna
* Sanchita Goswami as Phullorani
* Aarti Jha as Jhalki
* Goraksha Sakpal as Babu
* Sailessh Dubey as Mohan
* Shantanu Bhamare
* Kailash Satyarthi (Special Appearance) as himself
* Mahesh Chandra Deva as shivlal chakiya men's-1

## Location

The film was shot in and around Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) and in Film City (Mumbai).

## Release and Promotion.

Jhalki was released nationwide (theatrically) by Panorama Studios on 14 November 2019 (Children's Day). The team collaborated with The Kapil Sharma Show, ABP News, Kidzania too for the promotions.

## Campaigns and Reach

After watching the film, some big stakeholders have come on board as partners, who have felt the need to promote the film for maximum number of viewers to increase awareness and inspire people with the courage & life skills of Jhalki.
The film is also proposed as one of the first films to establish a new genre of films - Cinema for Change. Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation is promoting the film through Mukti Caravan and Picture Time wherein the film is screened for children, village communities, policy makers, chief ministers, judiciary, bureaucrats, MPs and MLAs, law enforcement agencies and national and state commissions for protection of child rights. Apart from KSCF, 9 other NGO partners are on board (Cry, Light of Life Trust, Udaan, Save The Children, Angel Xpress, Aangan, Salaam Baalak Trust, Prayas and Akshara Foundation) who are promoting and screening the film for their respective work areas and donor base by running special campaigns. Conversations with the Education Ministry and Women & Child Development Ministry are in progress for having screenings across all government aided schools. Effective international associations, advocacy groups, Non-profit organizations globally and Social Impact Media Partners are in conversations to collaborate. UNICEF, along with Massachusetts Coalition to End Human Trafficking, New England International Donors and Tufts Institute for Global Leadership have already started the process.
A unique collaboration with Picture Time to reach the film in various ways (ticketed & sponsored) has already begun. These are van-mounted mobile theatres which takes 2.5 hours to be made fully functional, complete with air-conditioning, seating arrangements and world class high-definition digital projection and 5.1 Dolby surround sound for a high quality Cinema experience to every corner of the country, especially rural areas.

## Box-Office collection

The film earned 1.96 crores INR (approx.) at the box-office in its first week of release.

## Reviews

* Brahmanand deals with a subject that is sensitive and socially alarming. --Times Of India
* A cinematic tribute to Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi. --The Hindu
* Jhalki's earnestness and ability to spark a debate, is great humanitarianism on screen. --GlamSham
* It is not every day that you find a Hindi film that is backed by a Nobel laureate. –Cinestaan
* Trust National Award-winning filmmaker Brahmanand S Siingh to leave no stone unturned when backing a project that has the potential to impact lives. --Entertainment Times (Times of India)
* Jhalki is Brahmanand's humanitarian plea for hope, childhood & calls for innocence --CineBlues
* ...winning hearts of the audience --BollywoodTown
* The film is so human and it's so simple. I didn't even realize when and how often I cried in the film. --Bhawana Somaaya, Film Critic
* Film bohot samvedansheel tareeke se iss mudde ko chhooti hai. Film bohot badha koi dawa nahi karti hai na aisi koi promise karti hai, bohothi chhoti kahani hai aur chhote tareeke se apna... bohot hi halke fulke andaaz mein apni baat keh jaati hai. --Ajay Brahmatmaj, Film Critic
* 'For anyone of us who has ever cared for the future of our children Jhalki is a heartwarming at times heart-stopping saga about the loss of innocence and a flash of hope.’ ! --Subhash K Jha, Film Critic
* "JHALKI" - Raw. Real. Relevant. ‘Jhalki’ is a refreshing take on brother-sister bonding. The ensemble cast gets into the skin of their characters while Aarti's performance will make you go ‘awww’ while Goraksh is earnest to the core. Brahmanand's writing will tug your heartstrings while his direction is sensitive. Don't miss this innocent, sweet, but small yet big (in concept) film! --Bhavikk Sangghvi, Film Critic
* What a beautiful film ... it's very rare that you get to watch such mindful content. --Anurag Pandey, RJ
* Director Brahmanand Singh takes this story through realistic lane and that was needed. -- Cinespeaks
* It's not just a visual experience but also a life transforming experience. --Neelam Kumar, Best Selling Author
* I wish it could be shown to many more children perhaps to every school and make it compulsory for every school kid to see it. Perhaps to every organization, women's organization all the Rotary Clubs, all the Lions Club ... --Dolly Thakore, Thespian
* Jhalki, in her own way, is a super hero without a cape ... --Deepa Gahlot, Film Critic, Author, Journalist
* Jhalki is a humanitarian plea for hope, childhood & call for innocence --Vishal Verma
* A heartwarmingly emotional as well as a feel good film, which you should not give a miss. --Bolly.com
* Rarely do we see meaningful films with serious backdrop which are so entertaining, engaging and inspiring. -- Business Standard
* Kailash Satyarthi's life-time of work of his crusade against human trafficking and child labour gets crystallized 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. -- ANI

## Awards and Selections

| Year | Award | Category |
| 2019 | Boston International Film Festival (BIFF 2019) | Best Original Screenplay Award |
| 2019 | A Show For A Change Film Festival (ASCFF 2019) | Best Cinematography Award |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Screenplay Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Concept Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Cinematography Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Original Score Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Original Song Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Best Animated Visuals Platinum Winners |
| 2019 | Indian International Film Festival Of Boston (IIFFB 2019) | Best Social Cause Film Award |
| 2019 | Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati (IFFCINCY 2019) | Best Feature Film Award |
| 2019 | Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF 2019) | Best Director Award |
| 2019 | International Screen Awards (ISA 2019) | Platinum Award for International Feature Film |
| 2019 | International Screen Awards (ISA 2019) | Golden Emerging International Feature Film |
| 2019 | North Texas Film Festival (NTFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Singapore South Asian Film Festival (SgSAIFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | International Independent Film Awards Los Angeles (IIFA 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | New York India Film Festival (NYIFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Tasveer South Asian Film Festival (TSAFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | A Show For A Change Film Festival (ASCFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Indian International Film Festival Of Boston (IIFFB 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati (IFFCINCY 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Beirut International Film Festival (BIFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Asian International Film Festival Arizona (AIFFA 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | International Freethought Film Festival (IFFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFFCY 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | International Film Festival Against Drug Abuse & Trafficking (IFFADAT 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | International Screen Awards (ISA 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Jagran Film Festival (JFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2019 | Boston International Film Festival (BIFF 2019) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | 17th FRAMES Film Festival (2019-2020) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF 2020) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | Diorama International Film Festival (DIFF 2020) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF 2020) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | CMS 12th International Children's Film Festival (ICFF 2020) | Official Selection |
| 2020 | UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF 2020) | Official Selection |