Review : Bicycle Days : Focussing on childhood dreams, simplistically!

The films meant for children and on children’s subjects are rare. But everyone wants to reminisce about their childhood and feel nostalgic. Childhood is always simple and all of us wish to relive that part of our lives as it’s unadulterated and pure. Similar feeling surfaces while watching #BicycleDays, directed by #DevyaniAnant. She has written the story too and it emits sincerity throughout. The tackling of children’s issues, though they seem humongous that time to them, is done with kid gloves and the director has successfully extracted realistic performances from the non-actors. Bicycle is used in the metaphorical form to delve into the desires of the young mind.

Aashish (Darshit Khanwe) is a 10 year old student who excels in cricket too. He goes to a village school but he desires to get enrolled into the city school as all his friends are studying there. His father is against this idea. Aashish is not happy to use second hand books passed on to him from his elder sister. And he is keen to have his own bicycle as his sister and all his friends have it. These are simple dreams of a child but when none of it materialises he feels dejected and loses interest in studies and avoids going to school. To compound his problems, he is the only student who is denied a bicycle due to some government rules. One of his teachers, Shekhar (Sohum Shah) understands his predicament and patiently guides him to the correct path. How this young guy comes to terms with the reality forms the crux of the story.

The story is heart warming and presented in a simplistic ways. But the change of heart of Aashish should have shown in a more methodical way. The screenplay is flowing and narrates the happenings of a school in a village in an authentic way. The friendships and rivalries between the class,ages is captured without going overboard. The simplicity and the sincerity of the storytelling (90 min) is laudable but it also works against the film. The cinematography is superb and the beauty of Madhya Pradesh is ably captured. The production values should have been better but the music stands out and helps the narration. Young Darshit Khanwe has done a super job and he has brought forth the mixed emotions of a young guy very nicely. Sohum Dhah is good but he doesn’t get enough screen space. Dadaji and other child actors are really good in their portrayals.

Bicycle Days focusses on childhood dreams simplistically and connoisseurs of good cinema will definitely like it.

***