Halo (1996 film)

Halo
Halo
Directed by	Santosh Sivan
Written by	Santosh Sivan; Sanjay Chhel;
Produced by	Children's Film Society, India
Starring	Benaf Dadachandji; Rajkumar Santoshi; Viju Khote; Mukesh Rishi; Tinnu Anand;
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan
Edited by	Kanika Myer Bharat
Music by	Ranjit Barot
Release date	7 February 1996;
Running time	92 min
Country	India

Halo is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Santosh Sivan and produced by Children's Film Society.^[1] It stars Benaf Dadachandji, Rajkumar Santoshi, Viju Khote, Mukesh Rishi, Tinnu Anand in lead roles. The film was released on 7 February 1996.

Plot

The film starts with the school's nun-teacher (Mehr Vakil) being frustrated at the ringing of the school bell, which indicates the end of school and the start of summer vacation. The story then turns to Sasha (Benaf Dadachandji), a motherless child who yearns of a mother's love despite having Mr. Deshpande (Rajkumar Santoshi), her doting father who works as a criminal lawyer. Her friend Thomas (Kavin Dave) has gone to London to undergo a surgery.

During vacation, while all the other kids are busy playing, Sasha sits silently, not eating. So, a servant fabricates a story that a miracle will happen in form of a halo. A street dog comes along, and Sasha believes it to be the God-sent halo. She adopts it and names it Halo. Sasha's life now revolves around the dog. She sleeps, drinks, and eats with him. Her father doesn't object, even though he doesn't like dogs. Her father, through a Satyavadi and following the principles of Gandhiji, observes a fast. One day, Halo goes missing, and Sasha searches inside and outside for him but to no avail.

She first asks the police commissioner (Mukesh Rishi) who uses her for his own plan to capture a gang of notorious smugglers led by Smuggler Raja (Tinu Anand). However, the credit for capturing the smugglers goes to Sasha. She also gets help from Ranga (Wasim Khan), a leader of a group of street urchins.

Eventually, she finds Halo under the care of an old couple (Dr. B. M. Banerji and Mrs. Banerji) with their physically disabled grandson Abdul (Yazad Mohedji).

At the end of the movie, Sasha happily gives the dog to Abdul.

Cast

Benaf Dadachandji as Sasha Deshpande
Bulang Raja as Anil
Rajkumar Santoshi as Advocate Deshpande, Sasha's father
Pooja Punjabi as Mamta
Mukesh Rishi as Police Commissioner
Tinu Anand as Smuggler Raja
Harish Patel as Astrologer
Mehr Vakil as Nun
Dolly Chainani as Girl 1
Tamana Gulrajani as Girl 2
Vinita Chainani as Girl 3
Supriya Pathak as Sasha's mother (in photograph)
Chintu Mahapatra as Chintu
Dimple Ghosh as Lata
Mr. Punjabi as Doctor
Poocha as Tiger
Kavin Dave as Thomas
Marukh Dadachandji as Thomas's mother
Sahil Choujar as TV Host of BadBad talk show
Anamika Ghosh as Videographer
Dipankar De as Prabhu Deva
Goldie Singh as Goldie
Ajit as Tabla Player
Ashok Narayan as Mr. Pappu, the 99-year-old man
Halo (dog) as Halo
Farookh Dadachandji as Veterinarian
Bala (Nandlal) as Newspaper Editor
Prakash Mahapatra as Assistant Newspaper Editor
Sagar (actor) as Photographer
Kanika Nandlal as Secretary
Suhas Gujrathi as Office Boy
Suresh Bhagwat as Dog Catcher
Vijay Khote as Constable 1
Anand as Constable 2
Ajay Devgn as Constable 3
Snehendra as Constable 4
Abdulkayyam as Journalist
Anil Sharma (director) as Smuggler 1
Javed Khan (actor) as Washer Boy
Babu as Ranga's Assistant
Wasim Khan as Ranga
Dr. B. M. Banerji as Old Man
Mrs. Banerji as Old Woman
Yazad Mobedji as Abdul
Sajana Sivam as Kid in Riots

Awards

Public viewing

Halo was first released on Children's Day in 1996 on Doordarshan.

References

^ Verma, Suparn (4 April 1997). "I want to make films only I can make". Rediff On The Net.
^ Gulzar, Govind; Saiba Nihalani (2003). "Biography: Sivan, Santosh". Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica (India). p. 633. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.

External links

Halo at IMDb
Official website from the Children's Film Society, India Archived 7 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Film's official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 August 2001)
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Rediff article on Halo

[1] Verma, Suparn (4 April 1997). "I want to make films only I can make". Rediff On The Net.

[2] Gulzar, Govind; Saiba Nihalani (2003). "Biography: Sivan, Santosh". Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopædia Britannica (India). p. 633. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.

[1]

[2]