Bubble Gum Movie Reviews

A bundle of films on teenage life has been explored MERA PEHLA PEHLA PYAAR, UDAAN, TERE MERE SANG, ROCKFORD, KACCHA LIMBO , (the latest being) ALWAYS KABHI KABHI in the past however each having a different take and a different subject matter to deal with. Director Sanjivan Lal's BUBBLE GUM is yet another refreshing blossoming teenage tale. The best part about this age group is there's so much to babble on that it never appears repetitive

Bubble Gum is in colour but in my head it is playing in sepia — yellow and faded with age, yet full of feelings, mood and nostalgia. Bubble Gum’s poster, incidentally, is seriously misleading. The blue ankle-high canvas shoes suck on pink chewing gum convey that this is a film about the tough life of a newbie teenager today. That’s not the case at all. This is a film for all those in the 35 to 50 age group. It’s an emotional trip to their adolescence

Cinema is all about narrating fascinating stories and if a story doesn't keep your attention arrested in that time span, the entire exercise and effort falls flat. Actually, the promotions of BUBBLE GUM never really caught my attention. One of the reasons could be that the flow of films is unstoppable and generally, one tends to notice films that star heavy-weights instantly, while a film starring new faces gets relegated to the backseat

No high drama, no pubescent hysteria, no artifice, no guile.... Yes, Bubble Gum is a sweet and sensitive ode to growing up in an age when there was no Facebook, no internet and no mobiles. Then, in small town India, teen love stories were made up of cycle chases, where young boys furiously followed their girl friends and tried desperately to muster up courage to make the first move. Fourteen-year-old Vedant's love story with Jenny

He, dressed ordinarily with hair carelessly falling over his face, is told by the girl he is rooting for, to come to the balcony. And there with radiant eyes, she mutters 'I like you'. Both of them are covered with scores of color as it is Holi. The multiple hues denote the confused emotional rush. They are too young to have a peck, too shy to even embrace. They just stand across, starring and smiling, even as the guy attempts to touch her cheek

With children as the principal cast, the hardest thing is to get the tone right. Bollywood veers usually, and distressingly, between cautionary or cutesy, and is only now learning to tread a new path. `Bubble Gum’ gets it to the rights, with its life-like portrayal of a couple of small-town teenage brothers experiencing the first stirrings of young adulthood. There are several nice things about the film. The let-the kids-be-kids tenet is adhered to

Bubble Gum may not score high on the entertainment quotient and is definitely not meant for the popcorn guzzlers. But the film has a piquant charm to it, spilling over with mood, sentiment and message. Add to this, the life-like performances by almost all the actors, including the two teen actors (Delzad and Sohail as the hearing-impaired), and you have a film that offers a satisfying experience.

On the whole, the movie is truly touching and worth a watch. It may not be a blockbuster but would be ideal for a DVD viewing.

Narrative meanders in portions. Screenplay is streteched out in parts. The amateurish, rough touches remain real still. So does the movie. Throughout. It’s the nearest we’ve got to an honest Indian take on the Wonder Years, set in early ’70s American suburbia.

What makes Bubblegum an entertaining watch is the absolutely realistic & mature treatment to adolescent issues generally discarded as frivolous.

‘Bubble Gum’ suffers from some amount of narrative drabness, and some strange too-quick transitions. But it is a film that needs to be noted for its appealing cast and being true to itself.

On the whole, BUBBLE GUM has its heart in the right place. A film that arrives with zilch expectations, but succeeds in taking you back in time when life was simpler and sweet. Recommended!

The film has implemented no entertaining formula and goes by the flow that in a way recreates a real life situation in the simplest possible way.

An adult recounts his days as a teen in Jamshedpur at a time when “there was no internet and no cellphones” in a voiceover. It is Holi week sometime in the early 80’s, school has just let off and young Vedant is in love for the first time. But all is not smooth sailing. His raging hormones have to contend with his older brother whom his parents favour on account of his being deaf-mute, a rival in ‘like’ with the same girl, and other teenage angsts

Bubble Gum review by Komal Nahta. Biz rating: 0.5/5 star. What’s Good: A couple of emotional scenes; acting of S...