Bubblegum

I was looking for stuff to watch online and came across the Junglee Film Club on youtube. The movie title 'Bubblegum' rang a bell. I vaguely remembered hearing about it when it released but wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. I decided to watch it anyway.

The movie is directed by Sanjivan Lal and stars Tanvi Azmi, Sachin Khedekar and newcomers Sohail Lakhani, Delzad Sanjay Hirale, Apoorva Arora and Suraj Kumar.


It is about a family in the 80s in Jamshedpur. Sudha (Tanvi) and Mukund (Sachin) are middle class parents to Vidhur (Sohail) and Vedant (Delzad). Vidhur is deaf and dumb and studies in a special school in Delhi while Vedant lives in Jamshedpur. Vidhur comes home for Holi after 4 years and Sudha and Mukund are very happy. It's a drag for Vedant because having a deaf and dumb brother can be a drag for a 14 year old's lifestyle. There are problems.. fights... tears... but when Vedant is lonely and alone he turns to his brother. 

It's just a lovely movie. It's like watching your own life as a teenager... the first crush, parents sitting on your head for 10th std, friends, enemies, fights, kabbadi (or in my case- maram pitti)... and every emotion or problem getting heightened by a million times. 

The setting is real... the Bihari accents sound authentic... Tanvi Azmi and Sachin Khedekar are the kind of parents every child should have.

There are two scenes in the movie which really hit home:
- Sachin asks Tanvi - Which of our kids is actually handicapped? Vidhur who is deaf and dumb but so sensible or Vedant who has his five senses but still immature? 
- Tanvi replies - It's our fault too. We focussed so much on Vidhur that we left out Vedant. But then, it's our first time as parents.

The bond between siblings is the most complicated one of all. It is laughter and tears, hatred and love, selfishness and sacrifice. But how strong or weak that bond is, depends on the parents. It's the parents who have to teach siblings how to get along... how to support one another and maintain a balance between the love and hate. It's more complicated than it sounds.

I loved this movie. Movies like these are best watched at home with your fishy (yes, I sleep with my soft toy- sue me) tucked under you, with enough time to contemplate and savour each emotion it arouses. 

Please watch it. And now I remember, where I heard about this flick- Anupama Chopra had reviewed it in her show. 

PS : Maram Pitti - A game played with a cricket ball. The rules are - there are no rules. You pick up the ball and hit anyone. It's more fun when you play it in a group with boys and girls. If a girl gets hit on her boobs, everyone cracks dirty jokes and when a guy gets hit near his balls, everyone cracks dirty jokes again. 
Yes- my favourite game growing up in the co-ed hostel :)