Jalpari-the desert mermaid

Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nila Madhab Panda
Produced by	Sushilkumar Agrawal
Screenplay by	Deepak Venkateshan
Starring	Lehar Khan Krishang Trivedi Harsh Mayar
Music by	Midival Punditz Ashish Chauhan
Editing by	Apurva Asrani
Distributed by	Ultra Distributors
Release date(s)	July 2012 (Cannes) July 20, 2012 (India)
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid is an upcoming 2012 Indian film directed by Nila Madhab Panda.^[1][2] Like I Am Kalam it is also a children's cinema where Lehar Khan, Krishang Trivedi and Harsh Mayar (who won the National Film Awards for the best child artist in 2011) are on lead as child artists and Parvin Dabas, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Rahul Singh,Suhasini Mulay and V.M. Badola are on supporting roles.^[2]

The movie centered on the issue of female foeticide is an adventure film, which is screened at Marche du Cannes film festival.^[2]

The movie has been nominated at the prestigious Asia Pacific Screen Awards(APSA).The sixth APSA ceremony will be organised at Queensland, Australia on November 23, 2012.^[3]

We are selfish and don't care about our children," says writer-director Nila Madhab Panda. He minces no words as he talks about his country "failing to invest in its future generation". Director of the critically-acclaimed film I am Kalam, Panda is back from the Cannes Film Festival 2012, where he presented Jalpari ' The Desert Mermaid, a children's film that saw an overwhelming response. The film will release in India on July 20. "It's a story that brings families together and revolves around the journey of 10-year-old Shreya and how she discovers a deep dark secret of a village," says the director, who rues the fact that for a nation that counts over 35 per cent of its 1.2 billion population as under-15, there is "hardly any homegrown quality cinema" for children in India. "Indian children are growing up watching Japanese and American films and animation movies and television shows which reflect little of their own lives, experience or culture," says Panda.

Concerned about the scenario, Panda has been consciously working towards cinema that talks about children, the environment and "impending dooms" like water wars and food scarcity. He has now come up with Green Screen Lab ' a new movement in children's films in India. "These films will make way for the world's first Indian Green Cinema movement," says Panda, whose Delhi-based company Eleeanora Images has joined hands with Performing Arts Labs (PAL), London, to take the idea forward. After the success of Screenwriters' Lab in 2009, they've come up with Green Screen Lab 2012 to develop high quality children's films. Indian writers will be invited to come up with ideas and scripts for films focusing on issues and experiences of children in India. Eighteen shortlisted writers will then work on lab screenplay and develop it with a team of award-winning Indian and international screenwriters, producers, directors and actors. Once the writers' lab is over, each writer/team will be provided with creative support for another six months to develop their projects for pre-production. "The idea is to enable mentored screenplays to be seen on cinema screens across India, to develop new young writing and directorial talent, and produce films that are steeped in regional roots while being commercially attractive," says Panda.