What is it all about?
Oh those sweet charming days of adolescent, the in fluctuations, saying I Luv U oops sorry... I have to be precise I Love You...Guys no Twitter, Facebook here. Sheer adolescent is painted on the walls of this coming of age flick 'Bubble Gum'.
The bygone 80's setting is an endearing experience of having a cute vanilla ice cream at a hill station amidst slight drizzle provided you are ready for the simple touching and realistic outing of cinema that demands some patience. Kudos to the helmer Sanjivan Lal for giving us this sweet little experience.
The Story.... Of Course
Set in Jamshedpur of early 80s, in an era when there were no TVs, Internet or mobile phones, the story revolves around a fourteen year old boy named Vedant (Delzad Hiwale). Vedant, who has just stepped into his teens is going through a disturbed phase in his life, because of academic pressure and his infatuation with a colony girl Jenny (Apoorva Arora).
To worsen the situation, enters Ratan (Suraj Singh), his competitor, a guy from the same neighbourhood. Adding another twist to the tale is the return of Vedant's elder brother Vidur (Sohail Lakhai), who is deaf and comes home for his Holi holidays. Parents Mukund (Sachin Khedekar) and Sudha (Tanvi Azmi), get too engrossed with Vidur and Vedant starts feeling neglected. After the whole muddle, Vedant realises that not only his brother, but also his parents are special for him. He understands why his parents are considerate towards Vidur. The title proves right, as the flick shows that things may be stretchable, but patience can bursts after a point.
What to look out for?
Detailing and audience connect with the age no bar tag is the biggest achievement of Sanjivan Lal in Bubble Gum. 80's is presented well over here. Every minute detail like phone models, kitchen equipments like the model of cooker in those days is taken care. There's earnestness with a heart and is evident from the characters who look pretty in those bell bottom pants.
A pat with kudos to Muneesh Sappal's production designs and Anshul Chaubey's camera work for giving us the Jamshedpur of 80's.
The director's vision is clear, simple and realistic blended with sense and sensibility. It identifies with the teenage in you where Vedant takes you along with his mood swings and you agree with the necessity of treating teenage children as friends. Dialogues are basic and simple.
The maker has smartly used kite as a simile which works. The bonding is not sugar coated and the situations are handled with maturity like in spite of differences the younger one holds respect for the elders. The behavior of parents is real and connecting nothing seems to be artificial.
The actors score A and A in their performance here with Sohail Lakhai as the elder brother impressing the maximum. Delzad Hiwale is fantastic. Apoorva Arora is a delight. Sachin Khedekar and Tanvi Azmi give a perfectly balance act as a parents.
What not?
Agreed it identifies with yesterday's and today's teenagers but setting in today's time would have been ideal. The length is an issue and the conflict gives a repetitive feeling later. The party song and the fight could have been avoided.
Conclusion: Go for the nostalgia, recommended for teenagers and parents.
Rating ***and 1/2
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