‘Dhanak’ Movie Review: Endearing tale, the kids steal the show with their act

Directed by: Nagesh Kukunoor
Produced by: Manish Mundra, Nagesh Kukunoor, Elahe Hiptoola
Cast: Hetal Gada, Krrish Chhabria
Duration: 1 hours 56 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

Every adult carries an individual perspective. The way he sees and tackles a problem faced by him may not be felt by another person in the same way. But in the world we live in, there is this innocent viewpoint of children as well. They are the ones who strongly believe that this place is not bad enough to live where every problem can be taken care of, no matter how many roadblocks come in the way. This innocence and viewpoint carried by them is the soul of director Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Dhanak‘ which releases this Friday. It depicts a heart touching bond of sibling love between Pari and Chotu who set out on a road journey to fulfill a wish promised by Pari to Chotu. So will their innocent charm and quest be able to impress you? The answer is YES!

The plot begins in Rajasthan where we are introduced to siblings Pari and Chotu who stay with their uncle and aunt. Chotu is visually impaired but being a die hard fan of superstar Salman Khan, he never considers himself weak whereas on the other side his elder sister loves Shah Rukh Khan and is much more caring and responsible in nature. Looking at an eye donation poster in a local theatre featuring SRK and following a no reply of the numerous letters written to him, she takes an important call. Pari had promised Chotu that he would see ‘Dhanak’ (Rainbow) along with her on his 9th birthday due to which both of them leave their house at night and embark on a journey to reach Jaisalmer trying to get help from SRK who is shooting for his film there. So would they reach Jaisalmer on time? What problems would they face while reaching there? Will Pari be able to fulfill her promise given to Chotu? All the answers lie in this brilliant movie named ‘Dhanak’.

Talking about the performances, Krrish Chhabria and Hetal Gada are the backbones of this film. The body language carried down by Krrish as Chotu is outstanding, he deserves every accolade for this role. His performance makes you smile throughout and even leaves your eyes moist at the end. Where Hetal as Pari is another star in the making, her performance shows the immense maturity as a kid being responsible for her younger brother who is blind, is terrific. Describing both their performance in one line we could easily recount the phrase that big surprises come in small packages. This film has both of them completely from the first to last frame, special mention should be given to actors like Vipin Sharma, Suresh Menon, Vijay Maurya, Bharati Achrekar, Vibha Chibber and Gulfam Khan who play their respective parts with equal perfection. Without this entire supporting cast, the magic of Krrish and Hetal would have missed a very crucial point for sure.

After delivering a hard-hitting message on human trafficking through his 2014 release ‘Lakshmi’, Nagesh Kukunoor is back with another gem through ‘Dhanak’. He has been credited for the writing and direction of this movie, and in both departments he has left no choice for us to criticise him. The film runs for almost 2 hours but there not a single dull moment that would take away your attention from his sharp and equally heart-touching narrative. Talking about his direction, again he has beautifully captured the core emotions of Hetal and Krrish and to manage that entire journey with those bunch of talented actors, surely ‘Dhanak’ would make you recount his earlier films like ‘Iqbal’ and ‘Rockford’. Without a doubt, definitely this is his best work till now.

The music and Background score by Tapas Relia adds a different dimension and becomes an integral part of Nagesh’s narrative.

The technical team is another strong pillar of this film. Picturising Rajasthan in such a beautiful way and to make the audience a part of Pari and Chotu’s journey, the sole credit for this goes to cinematographer Chirantan Das. The editing done by Sanjib Datta deserves applause and every respective department has done their work perfectly.

To wrap it up, ‘Dhanak’ is a must watch, there are very few movies which come more as a blessing to the viewers to remind of the lost emotions in us today. The brilliant execution and the memorable performances of Hetal Gada and Krrish Chhabria would surely turn this film into a cult film ahead. Don’t miss it, highly recommended.

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