‘April May 99' review: An irresistibly charming summer vacation

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23-05-2025

The summer of 1999 in the Maharashtrian coastal town Shrivardhan promises to be like any other. The school term will end. Krishna (Aaryan Menghji), Prasad (Shreyas Thorat) and Siddhesh (Manthan Kanekar) will spend the break loafing about.
However, a tsunami is gathering. Prasad's father Suresh wants to send him to Mumbai to improve his English. Krishna and Siddhesh see this as nothing short of a betrayal.
A solution is presented by Jaie (Sajiri Joshi), a neighbour's niece, who comes to Shrivardhan for a vacation with a camera, curiosity about the ways of the fishing town, and an enviable command over English. But Jaie's entry into the boys' lives causes turbulence for which they are unprepared.
Rohan Mapuskar's Marathi-language April May 99 is out in cinemas with English subtitles. Mapuskar's directorial debut is an irresistibly charming account of the comforts of the old clashing with the shock of the new.
Mapuskar's screenplay, written with Kunal Pawar and Bimal Oberoi, is very good at creating low-key incidents that take on the air of massive problems for the impressionable boys. Much of the hilarity flows from the bad temper shown by the hosts when they have to take Jaie around, and then confusion when they begin to feel emotions they have never confronted before.
Despite its subject matter, April May 99 isn't a typical coming-of-age movie. Puberty, adolescent sexuality, the dynamic between growing girls and boys – these themes get the kid-glove treatment in a film in which the boys behave like nine-year-olds rather than 15-year-olds and are treated as such by the grown-ups.
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The absence of sexual frisson is explained away by the year in which the film is set. In 1999, per Mapuskar, there is still scope for purity, innocence and freedom from the anxieties of the new millennium.
Rather than hormonal stirrings, April May 99 is more interested in the tug of memories for guileless times. Mapuskar's deft characterisation, as well as the small-town setting, makes this idyllic view plausible.
Mapuskar's control is most felt in his handling of the delightful quartet of lead actors. The boys have the shared bond of a relationship born while they were in their diapers.
Sajiri Joshi, in her acting debut, provides a wonderful calming counterpoint to the frequently overwrought boys. The young performers are surrounded by adult actors who provide colour, comedy and wisdom without coming in the way.
April May 99 is like travelling in a time machine back to the joys of childhood vacations where nothing of importance seemed to happen even though a great deal was churning under the surface. Mapuskar's film deftly shows how the holiday does more than improve English-speaking abilities, best captured in the earnest declaration 'I am thank you.' The final sequence is beautifully judged, poised as it is delicately between adolescence and impending adulthood.
The gorgeous locales, which have been shot by Apoorva Shaligram, create their own kind of nostalgia for green and uncluttered spaces. The 129-minute movie also has a lovely soundtrack by the composers Rohan-Rohan, with Mann Jaie, soulfully sung by Sonu Nigam, lingering in memory long after the end credits have rolled.
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