Nanhe Jaisalmer

Director

Samir Karnik

Star Cast

Bobby Deol...... Bobby Deol (himself)
Katrina Kaif
Vatsal Sheth
Dwij Yadav...... Nanhe
Prerna Virender

Music Director

Himesh Reshammiya

Story / Writer

Samir Karnik

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Let us how they tore it to shreds .

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Critic - Khalid MOhammed

Rating - 2/5

Really, it’s enough to blow your pressure cooker. His novella is actually awarded the International Booker. Yup, the same literary prize snagged in recent years by Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy and the patriarch-turned-prose-genius Amitabh Bachchan in Baghbaan. What a yarn!
The new winner is Vikram Singh aka Nanhe Jaisalmer, directed and written (oh oh, what about those allegations of snitching by another writer?) by Samir Karnik. Kyun controversy ho gaya naa?
Alas, there’s nothing remotely literary or controversial about what you eventually sample in this flashbuk-buk by Vicky Singh. No zing, Vicks just catches hold of a shocked electrician at a hotel’s banquet hall to narrate his memoir. Hmm, it’s about a camel-riding Rajasthan tourist guide kiddo (Dwij Yadav) who looks as if he’d be happier at home playing Ludo. Eeeps.
Anyway, the 10-year-old desert boy knows a smattering of French, German, Latin and fenugreek. Snag: he’s uneducated in ka-kha-ga-gha and so goes duh-duh. This despite the militant attempts of his morose mum, didi and a heftier version of Gayatri Devi, to make him attend night school. Incidentally, this masti ki paathshala is populated by an ancient gent who goes haw-haw-haw and dear old Sharat Saxena who keeps drinking from quarter bottles of rum? Life’s glum.
But there’s a tinsel lining. Camel boy is Asia’s biggest ceiling fan of Bobby Deol the actor (played by Bobby Deol the actor).
Next: you’re subjected to teasers from Abby-Mustan’s Soldier; the kid claps, whistles and generally goes berserk till Bobby D shows up in person. Gratifyingly, the bonhomie between the two is life-affirming. How wonderful – a star and a desert boy actually bond as equals! Sweet.
If only Karnik’s writing had developed this emotional aspect of an otherwise gaga screenplay. Alas, there’s something much too gratuitous about the kid giving up his gutka chewing habit, beating up a junior Gulshan Groverish bully, exhuming his fear of mice (how nice?), becoming an exemplary scholar and heavens, growing up to become a purely wooden Vatsal Seth (from the forgotten Tarzan The Blunder Car or something). Oof. And for the last straw, there’s that cracko-wacko Booker acceptance speech. Please!
Like it or not, the boy is even turned into a stereotyped angry child-man, what with the Deewar-like humiliating tattoo emblazoned on his hand. Surely, Karnik could have stressed upon the innocence and guilelessness of the boy instead of making him a cross between Bachchan and Guddi. Oh well.
If you don’t sprint out of the auditorium, it’s only because of the emphasis placed on the need for a national literacy programme (girl children are conspicuous by their absence though).
Plus, Dwij Yadav is endearing; the child has the most fluroscent smile since Madhuri Dixit’s. Bobby Deol, too, invests a glowingly warm quality to his part, almost as if he were reliving moments with his own son.
On the debit side, Binod Pradhan’s cinematography of the magnificent Jaisalmer vistas are ordinary. Himesh Reshammiya’s music is unhummable. And the direction relies far too much on swooping crane shot takings.
Bottomline: this odd enterprise is neither a children’s film nor an entertainer for spectators of all ages. It’s not worth losing your pressure cooker for its bizarre Booker.

Critic - Taran Adarsh

Rating - 1.5/2

Right intentions don't necessarily translate into right results. NANHE JAISALMER is a case in point.
Director Samir Karnik's second outing is truly unconventional. It's a simple story with no commercial paraphernalia and trappings, stars a kid as a protagonist, there's no heavy duty drama here and nor is there the mandatory hero-heroine routine that Hindi films are made of. Oh yes, Karnik gambles big time this time around.
As a storyteller, Karnik gets it right with NANHE JAISALMER. He has grown as a raconteur and his handling of a couple of sequences is indeed impressive. But it's the writing, more specifically the pre-climax and climax, that ruins the show. Imaginary relationships were handled with dexterity in THE SIXTH SENSE and Karnik tries to do a SIXTH SENSE in NANHE JAISALMER, but fails to pull it off.
NANHE JAISALMER progresses smoothly [there're aberrations in between] and you're keen to know how Karnik and his team of writers would culminate this offbeat story eventually. But the climax is such an anti-climax!
In a nutshell, NANHE JAISALMER appeals in bits and spurts. But that's not enough!
Young Nanhe [Dwij Yadav], a 10-year-old kid, is the breadwinner of his family. He lives in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan with his mother and sister. Nanhe's room is full of colorful pictures and posters of his favorite movie star -- Bobby Deol.
Nanhe is a diehard Bobby Deol fan. He watches every film of his. He communicates to Bobby through letters written by his elder sister. Nanhe lives, eats, breathes, talks about his friend all the while. And one sunny morning, Nanhe comes face to face with his idol in the desert.
NANHE JAISALMER holds your interest at several points. You're awe-struck as you watch the kid carry the show on his puny shoulders. In fact, it's tough to hold the viewer's attention from start to end and the biggest of stars cannot guarantee that, but you're mesmerized by the kid here.
The emotional moments do strike a chord. The sequences between the mother [Pratiksha Lonkar] and the kid [Dwij] are well treated. Those between the kid and the grown-ups, especially after the 'Gadha' episode, are interesting.
But NANHE JAISALMER is not without its share of loose ends. The songs [Himesh Reshammiya] are a big bore. Barring the title track and to an extent, the marriage song, the two Bobby Deol songs seem forced in the narrative. Also, the sequences in the night school can do with trimming.
Binod Pradhan's cinematography is topnotch. The dialogues are simple and that works in a film like this.
NANHE JAISALMER belongs to Dwij Yadav. His performance can be rightly described in one word -- magnificent. He's adorable and supremely talented. So good is this wonder kid that all actors in NANHE JAISALMER pale in comparison. A matchless performance!
Bobby is a complete miscast. The role demanded a hugely popular star, someone like SRK, Salman, Aamir, Hrithik or Akshay. Had it been a superstar enacting the character, the identification with it would've been immense then. The viewer knows that Bobby is not in the top bracket and that's why this character appears fake.
Pratiksha Lonkar and Bina Kak are competent. Sharat Saxena, Vivek Shauq and Rajesh Vivek are passable. Vatsal Sheth is wooden.
On the whole, NANHE JAISALMER has been made with noble intentions, but will find very few takers. At the box-office, it's a non-starter.