Mapuskar Brothers, Fingerprint Films, Nexus Alliance, Think Tank and Magij Pictures’ April May 99 (Marathi; UA) is a lighthearted film about three school-going adolescents, who live in a village, and start learning English from a girl who comes from Pune to visit her aunt in the village in the months of April and May.
Prasad (Shreyas Thorat), Krushna (Aaryan Menghji) and Siddhesh (Manthan Kanekar) are childhood friends who are not good at their studies. They are fun-loving but often get scolded by their elders because of their lack of seriousness. Jaaie (Sajiri Joshi) comes to their village in the summer vacations to meet her aunt. The boys strike up a bond of friendship with her. While they show her around the village, she teaches them English. They soon develop romantic feelings for her. What happens thereafter?
Rohan Mapuskar has written a story which seems to be straight from the heart. It is so easy-going and simple that the audience gets taken in right from the word ‘go’. The characters of Prasad, Krushna and Siddhesh are extremely endearing and very well spelt out and so are the characters of their family members and friends, particularly Shraddha (Saee Brahme) and Swati (Pradnya Dalvi). The screenplay, penned by Rohan Mapuskar, Kunal Pawar and Bimal Oberoi, is fast-paced and so full of anecdotes that it doesn’t give the viewers even a moment to think. Rather, it sucks the audience into the drama and gives them the feeling that they are a part of it. Since the entire drama is light-hearted, it keeps the audience smiling and laughing all through. The humour is one of the best parts of the film. Of course, the last part of the screenplay has a dash of emotions which touch the heart. The emotions could even draw tears from the eyes of the weak-hearted. Jaaie’s analysis of the three friends and their friendship, in the climax, is superbly written. Rohan Mapuskar and Kunal Pawar’s dialogues are excellent. The naughty dialogues are extraordinary and enjoyable without hurting sensibilities. In fact, besides the humour and realistic performances of the actors, the dialogues are the biggest asset of the film.
Sajiri Joshi is excellent in the role of Jaaie. She is so natural in front of the camera that it doesn’t even look like she is acting. Shreyas Thorat is phenomenal as Prasad. His acting is so realistic that he endears himself to the public. Aaryan Menghji is wonderful as Krushna. He has done full justice to his character. The awkwardness of his character and how he portrays that wins him brownie points. Manthan Kanekar is lovable in the role of Siddhesh. The viewer’s heart goes out to him when he stands in support of Krushna in spite of knowing that he (Krushna) is wrong. Rajashree Potdar steals the show in her maiden performance as Bhatin Kaku. Pradnya Dalvi is extraordinary as Swati. Saee Brahme is superb as Shraddha. Raviraj Kande has his moments as Prasad’s father, Suresh Vichare. Dr. Pooja Wankhede (as Pushpa Sansare), Sumant Kelkar (as Samadhan Sansare), Ananda Karekar (as Siddhesh’s father, Pradip Karade), Madhuri Bharti (as Siddhesh’s mother, Prachi Karade), Shubhangi Bhujbal (as Aaryan’s mother, Shaila Kamerkar), Soumitra Pote (as Aaryan’s father, Prabhakar Kamerkar), Gauri Kiran (as Prasad’s mother, Sushma Vichare), Akshata Kambli (as Telma Kolin), Yogesh Bandagale (as Sada mama), Smital Chavan (as Chhaya tai), Ashutosh Gowariker (voice acting only as Jaaie’s father), Prashant Madpuwar (as Wagh sir), Sachin Kale (as Nandu) and Sanchita Joshi (as Neema) lend admirable support.
Rohan Mapuskar’s direction is fantastic. He has made a film straight from the heart — and, therefore, it touches the viewers’ hearts. Rohan-Rohan’s music is quite nice. Lyrics (Prashant Madpuwar and Rohan Mapuskar) are meaningful. Stanley D’Costa’s song picturisations are natural. Jerry Vincent’s background music is outstanding and it heightens the impact of the scenes. Apoorva Shaligram’s cinematography is lovely. Production designing (by Nikhil Kovale and Apurva Bhagat) and art direction (Kamlesh Kalsulkar) are of a fine standard. Ninad Khanolkar’s editing is super-sharp.
On the whole, April May 99 is a breezy entertainer and will be liked by the public.
Released on 23-5-’25 at Plaza (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: good. Opening: fair.
