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STORY: When a 10-year-old girl Pihu gets embroiled in the web of human trafficking, spearheaded by a stone-hearted pimp Bali (Sumeet Kant Kaul), the long-buried conscience of Pakhi (Anamika Shukla) comes alive and thus begins the conflict between the weak and the powerful. REVIEW: Just like many girls in India, who are either poverty-stricken or are flicked away and tricked into prostitution by people with malicious intent, Pakhi, too, was once an innocent girl with big dreams and a lover she trusted a little too much. Days turn into nights in the maddening whorehouse of Bali, until one day, a little girl comes along with her big sister and awakens the collective conscience of the people dwelling there. ‘Pakhi’ makes an attempt to render a humane angle to the otherwise grey and gory world of flesh trade, but the actors fail the social drama and how. Sumeet Kant Kaul has hammed all through the film and he is supposed to be the principle antagonist. Anamika Shukla, though slightly better than the hilarious portrayal of Bali, needed someone who could do justice to the plight of girls who are forced into prostitution. The cinematography of ‘Pakhi’ is below average and the lack of dialogues (and a solid screenplay) does the film no good. Goes without saying that this social drama was made with a noble intent, but director Sachin Gupta could have turned it into a hard-hitting film on this glaring issue had it not been for those novices of actors and a loosely written script. If you want insight into the sad world of brothels and sex workers, ‘Pakhi’ will not prove to be that informative. Pakhi movie is based on true events of the life of a 10 year old, the story unfolds the miseries of the webs of child trafficking where the world wants to trade her for marriage, Pakhi finds herself in the den of prostitution. The story of a girl who unfolds the realities of the world of flesh trade & decodes the enigma of existence. A story of struggle and survival of a girl who is strangled in the webs of dark. With the twist of fates, will this be a story of survival or battle of defeat? Coming from a National Award winning director and the "Natya Bushan" winner, Pakhi is a huge let down.

Based on true events akin to the last week's released Love Sonia, Pakhi is the story of Pihu, a 10-year-old girl who is forced to marry an older person. It is her journey, which is the most painful journey the audience must endure and that is not because of Pihu's trails and tribulations but because the director takes us through a senseless and complex route.

The narrative begins with Suhani, a young girl getting conned into the flesh trade operated by a goon called Bali (Sumeet Kant Kaul).

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Circumstances make the brutal Bali believe that Suhani is lucky for him and so gives her a royal treatment compared to the other girls in his coterie. Several months later, Pihu, her brother Maulik and an older sister land in Bali's den after their uncle sells them to Bali.

While the older sister escapes the trauma by killing herself, Pihu is subjected to a Hyderabadi business man's gaze, who is keen to marry her. How Suhani helps Pihu and her brother escape from Bali's clutches forms the crux of the tale.

The film may be a realistic portrayal of events, except that it trudges on a convoluted, verbose plot, filled with plot-holes and poor characterisation. The camera work is perfunctorily subjective capturing the claustrophobic ambience, shoddy production values and cardboard-thin characters with all its blemishes.

Amateurishly crafted and lacking finesse in terms of the script and dialogues, the fault also lies in its conceptualisation. It is the writing and direction which are flawed.