''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 alienati ...

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 '' Hyder ...

. Produced by Manish Mundra, Nagesh Kukunoor, and Elahe Hiptoola, the film features Hetal Gada 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 lif ...

, 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. The film was released India wide to widely positive reviews on 17 June 2016. Dhanak received the

Best Children's Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

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 Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

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 Nationa ...

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 — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, 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 * Hetal Gada 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 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 Bharati Achrekar is an Indian Marathi and Hindi theatre, film and television actress. She has been a part of several films in Indian cinema and was celebrated as Mrs Wagle from the doordarshan show, ''Wagle ki Duniya''. She is currently starri ...

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 Paga ...

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

at the

Soundtrack

All songs were composed and produced by Tapas Relia. The lyrics were by Manoj Yadav, Mir Ali Husain and Tapas Relia.

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