Bubble Gum

One Deaf Brother. One Beautiful Neighbour. Two Paranoid Parents.
It’s hard to be 14!

VEDANT is 14. He has been growing up alone almost like a single child in spite of not being one. He resents his PARENTS - MUKUND and SUDHA’s over concern for his elder brother NISHANT, 16 who is deaf and is studying away from home in a special school in the big city of Lucknow. With both the parents working hard to support the expensive education of the children - they are left with no time for Vedant. Whatever little time they get - they worry about Nishant -the special one. Vedant is taken for granted as he is ‘normal’.

Life for him looks up when a beautiful girl JENNY, also 14, moves in close by. Hoping to find some emotional support in her he begins wooing her intensely but only to discover a competition brewing over her with another neighboring dude RATAN, 15.

Things get a bit complicated when Nishant returns home for his Holi (Festival of Colors) Holidays! They go all out to ensure that he gets compensated in every possible way for losing out on the family life! Vedant is asked to give his brother a priority and forget his local friends as long as Nishant is there with them! Fearing losing the girl to his rival - Vedant fights back!

As he fights back-he discovers himself, his brother and his family…..

BUBBLE GUM is a coming of an age story set in a small industrial town of Jamshedpur in India. It is coming-of-age story not only for Vedant but also his parents who realize how their effort was definitely helping their handicap son integrate well into the mainstream of life but at the same time was isolating their otherwise normal son towards becoming a handicap!

Finally, the family learns to live better!

The Director: SANJIVAN LAL

Sanjivan Lal left the lucrative prospects of Chartered Accountancy to join a documentary film workshop in Delhi sponsored by INDO-GERMAN SOCIAL SERVICE SOCIETY. This was followed by a formal training at the prestigious Film and TV Institute of India. His diploma, fictional film ‘The Second Page’ about the killing of under trails in Police lock ups was elected for The Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India in Calcutta 1994.

Under his own production house, Lumiere Films, Sanjivan began a successful career as a conceptualizer and director of dramatic and thriller serials telecast on prime channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Sahara TV. The episode ‘Khazana in the thriller series ‘Mujrim Kaun?' won the prestigious RAPA award for excellence in Radio and Television advertising. Presently - he is directing a 13 episode animation series for children - FUNTASTIC CIRCUS to be telecast on national channel - DOORDARSHAN

Sanjivan has dealt with a variety of non fiction subjects. From ‘Chau Mask Making’ film for the Government of Jharkhand, to the ‘Electronic Voting Machine’ for The Election Commission of India and even corporate motivationals for clients like Parke - Davis & WIPRO. His short film ‘Is God Deaf’ about noise pollution in the name of religion was selected for the International Festival of Documentary and Reality Films at New Delhi and the International Film Festival of India, 2004, as part of the Indian Panorama. Sanjivan often returns to the Film Institute to support and teach students and give practical training. He also was a jury member for the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2005 in Goa.

Currently Sanjivan is in pre-production on ‘Bubble Gum’ a coming of age teen drama set in small town India which is written and to be directed by himself.

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