Bicycle Days Review: Heart-warming and Touching!

BICYCLE DAYS

Director: Devyani Anant

Cast: Mudit Gunhere, Darshit Khanwe, Soham Shah, Rishabh Sah, Parv Agarwal, Mitul Gupte, Nidhi Dewan and Umesh Shukla

Platform of Release: Theatres

Rating:

By Jyothi Venkatesh

This gem of a small film sets out to narrate the sweet little story of a 10-year-old bright village boy, who is hurt to the core because he fails to receive a bicycle through a government cycle distribution program for the simple reason that he stays near the school, unlike his beneficiary friends who reside far from school.

In addition, he resents the fact that he has no other alternative but to use the second-hand books of his sister as also the bicycle presented to her by their grandfather. These incidents destroy his morale, and he loses interest in his studies as well as in the game of cricket, of which he is the village champion.

The film revolves around how Shekhar, a young schoolteacher, who is brought in to teach English to the students becomes a friend, philosopher and guide to Aashish and how Aashish is able to come to terms with life after the District Collector decides to present him with a bicycle of his own.

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The film sets out to warm the cockles of your heart with its simple story which instantly touches you with its linear approach. The credit ought to go to Devyani Anant, who has written the story, the screenplay as well as dialogues but also deftly directed the film, adding her own nuances and made it a heart-warming one to behold. Each and every actor, be it Darshit Kanwe who plays the protagonist and Soham Shah who plays the role of the teacher by effortlessly getting into the hearts of the roles with effortless ease.

Mention must also be made of Nidhi Dewan who endears herself to the hearts of the viewers by essaying the character of the mother Urmila and Umesh Shukla, who is first class in the role of the loving Dadaji. Music by Keyur Bhagat is in keeping with the tempo as well as the pace of the film which is sure to linger in your hearts long after you walk out of the theatres. The cinematographer P. Kalyani Sunil has exquisitely cranked the camera with all the exotic locations in Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Don’t miss this gem of a film.