Report by OD bureau; New Delhi: Acclaimed film director Nila Madhab Panda's film Jalpari – The Desert Mermaid premiered at 35th Lucas International Children’s Film Festival. It should be noted that 35th Lucas International Children’s Film Festival runs from September 2-9, 2012 in Germany.

Jalpari released in theatres in India on 31st August, 2012. It is an adventure thriller based on the issue of female feticide. The film gets accolade from critics and intellectuals.
It should be noted that Panda’s first feature film I Am Kalam won the Best Feature Film award at the Lucas International Children’s Film Festival in 2010.

Director Nila Madhab Panda (I Am Kalam) has taken the sensitive but highly important subject of female foeticide and woven it into a children’s adventure tale. The story of Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid revolves around a city bred family of a single parent father Dev (Parvin Dabas), his two young children (Lehar Khan and Krishang Trivedi) and their grandmother (Suhasini Mulay). One summer holiday the family journeys to the ancestral village where doctor Dev intends to build a hospital in the memory of his deceased wife.

Cast: Parvin Dabas, Suhasini Mulay, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Harsh Mayar, Lehar Khan, Krishang Trivedi
Director: Nila Madhab Panda