''Dhanak'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language children's

road film A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

written and directed by

Nagesh Kukunoor Nagesh Kukunoor (born 30 March 1967) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and few Telugu language films. He is known for his works in parallel cinema, such as ''Hyderab ...

. Produced by Manish Mundra, Nagesh Kukunoor, and

Elahe Hiptoola Elahe Hiptoola is an Indian film producer and former actress. Her credits include producer of ''3 Deewarein'', ''Hyderabad Blues 2'', ''Iqbal'', '' Dor'', and '' Dhanak''. Early life Elahe Hiptoola was born in Mumbai and resides in Hyderabad. C ...

, the film features

Hetal Gada Hetal Gada is an Indian film and television child actress. She is known for portraying the lead role of Pari in the hit film ''Dhanak'' and Arya Mathur in the serial ''Aap Ke Aa Jane Se'', that airs on Zee TV. Career In 2014, Gada guest-starre ...

and Krrish Chhabria as the two children, playing brother and sister, in the leading roles, with supporting performances from Chet Dixon,

Vipin Sharma Vipin Kumar Sharma is an Indian actor, editor and filmmaker. He is best known for his acting roles in '' Taare Zameen Par'' (2007), '' Gangs of Wasseypur'' (2012), ''Kick'' (2014), '' Paatal Lok'' (2020) and ''The Family Man'' (2021). Early li ...

, Gulfam Khan,

Vibha Chibber Vibha Chibber is an Indian actress and theatre artist who appears in TV shows & Hindi films. She is well known for her memorable work in the successful television soaps '' Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai'', '' Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuein'' and '' ...

Flora Saini Flora Saini, also known by her screen name Asha Saini, is an Indian actress and model. She predominantly works in Bollywood, and also appeared in a number of Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. Since her debut in ''Prema Kosam'' (1999), she has a ...

, and

Vijay Maurya Vijay Maurya is an Indian actor, writer and director who works in Hindi films and theatre. He is best known for his work in the 2019 Hindi musical film ''Gully Boy.'' Early life Maurya was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra. His brother, ...

. The film was released India wide to widely positive reviews on 17 June 2016. Dhanak received the Best Children's Film trophy at the

64th National Film Awards The 64th National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2016 in the Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 7 April 2017, and th ...

. Dhanak won the Special Mention

Crystal Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

for the Best Feature Film by The Children's Jury for Generation Kplus at the 65th Berlinale.

Plot

Every morning Pari (Hetal Gada) and Chotu's (Krrish Chhabria) long walk to school begins with the toss of a coin outside their hut. The winner will decide if the story that will be told on the way to school that day will be one about a Shah Rukh Khan film or a

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

film. The siblings are rivals in their love for the two stars. Pari is devoted to Shah Rukh and Chotu worships Salman Khan (down to wearing a replica of the star's trademark silver bracelet with a blue stone). Ten-year-old Pari holds her precocious eight-year-old brother's hand throughout the journey to school and back. She's not just his friend and sister but, since Chotu is visually impaired, also his guide. With just months to go before Chotu turns nine, Pari feels the pressure to fulfill her promise to her brother - that he will have his eyesight back before his ninth birthday. Hope floats when she spots a poster of Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) encouraging eye donations. She begins to write him letters addressed at Mannat in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, which go unanswered. Eventually, they realize that he is not in Mumbai, but in a village in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

for a film shoot portraying a Rajput Prince. Convinced that a meeting with SRK is all it would take to get Chotu his eyes back, the children set off alone on a 300 km journey traversing testing terrain.

Cast

* Krrish Chhabria as Chotu *

as Pari *

as Dungaram *

Gulfam Khan Gulfam Khan is an Indian television and film actress who works in Indian television and Bollywood Hindi cinema. She is known for playing the role of Nazneen in '' Aladdin - Naam Toh Suna Hoga'' from 2018 to 2020. Early life Gulfam is known ...

as Gowri * Idhant Singh as Madan Mohan * Swastik Chavan as Bully * Narendra Singh Rajpurohit as Bathposh * Harmeet Arora as Aashajii *

Rajiv Laxman Rajiv Lakshman Ambadapudi (born 15 April 1975) is a creator and former presenter of the television series, '' MTV Dropout Pvt Ltd and ''MTV Roadies''.'' He is the twin brother of Raghu Ram, who was also involved in the show. Rajiv has also w ...

as Gardu * Pratyaksh Kalra as Shamsher Singh * Rahul Lohani as Saffron Robed man * Ramakant Dayma as Prataap Sharma (Kidnapper) *

as Sheera Mata/Vibha * Ramakant Dayama as Old Man (Kidnapper) * Chet Dixon as Douglas Adams (special appearance in Damadam) *

as Gypsy Woman * Bharati Achrekar as Dadisa *

Suresh Menon Suresh Menon (born 10 January 1967) is an Indian actor, comedian and television personality. Career Menon has appeared in movies including Grand Masti, ''Phir Hera Pheri'', '' Partner'', ''Fool N Final'', '' Krazzy 4'', '' Deewane Huye Pagal' ...

as Badrinath * Ninad Kamat as Aatmaram Khandelwal *

Vinny Arora Vinny Arora Dhoopar ( Arora; born 28 June 1991) is an Indian television actress. She started her acting career with '' Kasturi''. She later appeared in ''Kuchh Is Tara'' and ''Aathvaan Vachan''. She went on to portray prominent roles in shows l ...

as Asha * Priyank Sharma

Production

''Dhanak'' was entirely shot in

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

, and

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...

, India.

Release

The film was premiered at the

65th Berlin International Film Festival The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The ...

(Berlinale). ''Dhanak'' was also screened at the

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema

, and the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. It was released nationwide in India on 17 June 2016.

Accolades

The film won the

for Best Children's Film, and Special Mention for the Best Feature Film by the Children's Jury for Generation Kplus at

. The film has garnered the Best Film Award in the main category-Children's Feature Film Competition, Cinema in Sneakers, and the Best Film Award at the Montreal International Children's Film Festival (FIFEM). The film won Best Children's Film at the

Soundtrack

All songs were composed and produced by

Tapas Relia Tapas Relia ( gu, તપસ રેલિયા; born 11 August 1978) is an Indian music composer and producer, known for his famous advertising campaigns for brands like Close-Up (toothpaste), Domino's Pizza, Amaron Batteries, IPL and Mahabhar ...

. The lyrics were by Manoj Yadav, Mir Ali Husain and

References

External links

* {{Nagesh Kukunoor Indian road movies Films about actors Films set in Rajasthan Films shot in Rajasthan Indian children's films 2010s Hindi-language films Films about blind people in India Films scored by Tapas Relia Best Children's Film National Film Award winners Films directed by Nagesh Kukunoor