Bringing back family values

Nila Madhab, the director of the critically acclaimed film, I Am Kalam, is ready with his next movie, Jalpari, a children’s adventure-thriller that opens on June 22.

Nila Madhab, the director of the critically acclaimed film, I Am Kalam, is ready with his next movie, Jalpari, a children’s adventure-thriller that opens on June 22. “Before that we are taking it to the Cannes Film Festival for a market premiere,” informs producer Sushil Kumar Agarwal. Incidentally, I Am Kalam also premiered at Cannes in 2010, a year before its India release.

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Shot in a village in Haryana, Jalpari revolves around two children, Shreya (12) and Sam (9), who live with their maternal grandmother and father after their mother’s death. Their father (Parvin Dabbas) wants to build a hospital in his wife’s memory in their native village and plans a trip there with the children.

Nila says, “The duo imagine a village trip to be full of adventure, and visualise a fantasy land with streams, lakes, and lots of greenery. The dream of running free but the reality turns out to be very different.”

What they find instead are dusty alleys, dried-up ponds and hostile playmates. Nila says, “There are also lots of strange villagers, a witch everyone is terrified of, ghosts and a no-access zone beyond the hills.”