The film Bubble Gum seemingly set in the same era as Sholay , starts with the onset of Holi holidays in schools and ends with the festival of colours. But this fortnight-long holiday seems stretched more than a two-month summer vacation. Nevertheless if you are patient enough to overlook the long length and slow pace of this film, Bubble Gum is quite and an endearing experience.Bubble Gum is set in a bygone era when wall posts meant graffiti drawings and scratching on school benches. Forget Facebook and Twitter, it revives the period when there were no computers - not even television sets. But while it has a yesteryear setting, it isn't a dated product by any means. While the generation who has lived these days will easily relate to their adolescent years, even the contemporary cohort is sure to be touched by the simplicity and sincerity of the portrayal of past times in this film.
Vedant (Delzad Hiravali) is a 14-year-young school boy who is attracted towards the girl-next-door Jenny (Apoorva Arora). Neighbourhood boy Ratan (Suraj Singh) is his arch-rival as they both vie for Jenny's attention. When Vedant's deaf-and-mute elder brother Vidur (Sohail Lakhani) comes home from his hostel, their parents always show more care and concern towards their elder son for his handicap. Vedant feels ignored, though Vidur always acts like a responsible and mature boy. Vedant's infatuation with Jenny, rivalry with Ratan and miscommunication with Vidur forms the base of this bubblegum.
At first instance, Bubble Gum revives the old world charm of yesteryears - when stamp collection used to be a popular hobby, when kabaddi was a common sport, when black-and-white photographs adorned albums and when Fiat was the family car. Director Sanjeevan Lal, to a good extent, succeeds in evoking that feeling of nostalgia. With child protagonists, the film lightheartedly touches on themes like early infatuation and teenaged confrontation.
At the same time the film very maturely handles the theme of sibling antipathy that arises out of parent's preferential treatment to the handicapped son. That essentially doesn't restrict Bubble Gum to being a children's film and gives it a wider perspective. The bonding between the brothers is neither saccharine-coated nor is the younger's envy towards elder hostile. Despite their dispute, the younger always holds respect for the elder. The chase-scene between them towards the climax is very captivatingly choreographed. Even the parent's behaviour towards their children is very real. The father is paranoid while the mother is poised.
On the flipside, the pacing is slow and the runtime seems too long for a sweet-n-simple film like this. Also with the same character-conflicts being stretched through its length, the narrative kind of gets repetitive. All through its runtime, the film recurrently deals with the same character-conflicts of Vedant's infatuation with Jenny and incompatibility with Vidur. Moreover the impending Holi festival never seems to arrive till the very end.
Muneesh Sappal's production design is perfect as he aptly recreates the ambience of an elapsed era. Suresh Pai's editing could have been tighter and the film could surely have been made shorter. Anshul Chaubey does a decent job, though the cinematography is not as demanding as Udaan which captured the same industrial city of Jamshedpur in a more sparkling spirit.
Performances are a highlight with every member of cast coming up with impressive acts. Delzad Hiravali in his tousled hairdo and teenaged attitude befits the central protagonist. He is brilliant in the scene just before the interval when he confronts his parents out of frustration and anger. Using an actor who is hearing-impaired in real life could have been a difficult decision but the result shows with Sohail Lakhani being exceptionally good in his performance and body language. Suraj Singh has traits of being a potential negative lead when he grows up. Apoorva Arora is charming. Sachin Khedekar and Tanvi Azmi are convincing as the parents.
Like you tend to chew a bubble gum even long after its flavour is forgone, you are somehow glued to the film in spite of all its loose ends. The director, somehow, gets you hooked to the narrative and doesn't let the bubble gum burst.
