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Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid Review
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer: Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
JALPARI is the second film of Nila Madhab Panda, whose first feature film I AM KALAM won several national and global honors. JALPARI deals with the various predicaments that a girl child encounters in rural India and also addresses the divide between rural and urban India.On the whole, JALPARI is a motivating and thought-provoking movie that relies absolutely on the muscle of its powerful storytelling and performances to communicate a blazing subject matter. The movie is in its own independent space, not competing with the zany entertainers Bollywood is so famed for. An inspiring motion picture like JALPARI needs to be encouraged and nurtured!
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Madhureeta Mukherjee Site:Times Of India (TOI)
:Even Alice wouldn't be able to brave this wonderland. Of deep mysteries, shattering myths, daayans, horrifying beliefs, dusty roads, parched lands and dried ponds. But our desi Alice, Shreya (Lehar Khan) is all set to encounter her fairy-tale dream, albeit in India's hinterlands.Director, Nila Madhab Panda (known for the much-acclaimed 'I Am Kalam'), adeptly weaves in a stirring social message, adds a bit of mystery, folklore and suspense, without sermonizing. Though in the second half, the imagination dries up and most scenes are predictable. The eerie silences are punctuated by Midival Punditz & Ashish Chauhan's music, adding a rustic flavour.Dive into this adventure, you'll find mermaids and much more.Visit Site for more
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer: IANS Site:NDTV
In spite of its flaws, of which there are many, Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid wins your heart with its simple fluid storytelling and characters who seem to have taken birth in the deserted village in Haryana, long before the camera was switched on.Jalpari is a little gem, with a message on female foeticide that is so critical, and a heart so large that the narration could easily have been submerged in the social statement.Panda has carved a miniature gem on the past imperfect and the present tense of the girl child. Jalpari should immediately be granted tax exemption and made accessible to every Indian who loves his daughter and to every womb breaker who ever thought of snuffing an unborn life out.
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer: Mayank Shekhar Site:Dainik Bhaskar
The plot exists in this picture to drive home an important point. The device works. National Award winning film Nanhe Ghore Da Dan, as slow and real as life itself, set in a Punjabi village, for instance, played in theatres some weeks back. Few would have gone to see that film. Many more might still try this one out, because this isn't “parallel” cinema. Elements like song and humour necessarily intersect with the film’s broad story line. Leave aside some loud acting and a few poor casting choices (the children in particular), a few odd notes here and there (an over-informative background score, for one), the audience is reasonably entertained. The message is effectively conveyed. What else should one expect from a reasonably decent film? This is good enough.
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:India Today Site:India Today
The flaws do not eclipse the film's efforts to tell a story about the absence of equal opportunities for children of both sexes."Jalpari" is a little gem, with a message on female foeticide that is so critical, and a heart so large that the narration could easily have been submerged in the social statement.Panda has carved a miniature gem on the past imperfect and the present tense of the girl child. "Jalpari" should immediately be granted tax exemption and made accessible to every Indian who loves his daughter and to every womb breaker who ever thought of snuffing an unborn life out.Visit Site for more
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer: Mid Day Site:Mid Day
How many kids nowadays would even know what a penpal is? It is something only people of a certain vintage before the advent of social media would be familiar with. This apart, the film is simply sweet and deserves a watch with some splendid performances too by Harsh as the village ruffian and Tannishtha as the domestic help.
