Phir Milenge

Directed by Revathy Menon
Mumbai
release date 26 August 2004; international release date 27 August 2004
Rating: ***

Professor Richard Feachem, head of the global fund for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria said that there were three stages to HIV/AIDS awareness in Hollywood. In the first stage, an actress speaks out about it, then an actor dies from the virus. “Finally, there was the Philadelphia effect, where they made a movie about it.”

His sentiment was echoed by Kofi Annan's call for HIV/AIDS education through the international media earlier this year. Bollywood's reply to this was Phir Milenge "We'll Meet Again"—its first big budget, big name picture, which aims to tackle the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty) is the creative director of a successful advertising company and the graduate of an arts and theatre school. At a college reunion, Tamanna bumps into her college crush, Rohit (Salman Khan), a guitarist who now lives in New York. Love blossoms believably, albeit predictably, and they have sex. Rohit leaves for New York the next day, promising that they will see each other again. But he does not get in touch.

Tamanna is upset but gets on with her life and her work. Seven months later, while donating blood to her local hospital, she finds out she is HIV positive.

Devastated, she tells a trusted work colleague, but when word gets out about her HIV status, she loses her job. As in the Hollywood blockbuster, Philadelphia, Tamanna decides to take her former employers to court.

Phir Milenge highlights the inability of Indian civil laws to deal with discrimination. If successful Tamanna and her lawyer, Tarun (Abhishek Bachchan), will create an Indian case precedent.

Phir Milenge is good at making the audience care about what happens to Tamanna through its attention to detail. The morning after her one night stand, when Rohit leaves, their awkwardness is tangible. The absence of a sex scene does not matter—it is obvious that they have slept together and have no idea what to say to each other.

Rohit is generously portrayed as mysterious and brooding, perhaps because he is played by Bollywood stud, Salman Khan. He passes on the HIV virus to Tamanna, but then later claims ignorance. It is a credit to Shilpa Shetty's acting that it is so easy to distrust Rohit. The audience suspects that he did know about his HIV status before he had unprotected sex with her. And even if he did not, why did he not call?

Indian cinema has moved away from traditional story telling formulas to a more global format in Phir Milenge, with its understated acting and absence of dance routines.

Star ratings:
Michael Winner: *
Quentin Tarantino: ****

Some scenes, like Tamanna's younger sister secretly filming Tamanna, before breaking down into tears, are loaded with latent emotion. As is Tamanna's reaction when she is confronted with the possibility of her own future—when Rohit dies from AIDS.

Her old boss will not shake her hand, and friends avoid her out of fear of infection. However, these actions are clearly labelled “ignorant” in this film. The educational stance taken is evident, but in this case, the social propaganda does not harm the story.

Surprisingly, condoms are mentioned just once, when lawyer Tarun gets the lowdown on HIV/AIDS from his doctor friend. This is another barefaced attempt at enlightening the audience. But how else would the picture get support and publicity from UNAIDS, who released a statement saying that they “applaud the making of this film”?

UNAIDS estimates that India's HIV/AIDS infection rate stands at 0.7% of its population of 1.027 billion. With women mostly affected, Phir Milenge attempts and succeeds in getting the message across that HIV/AIDS is a reality. What is more, it does this with more heart and subtlety than your average smash hit from Hollywood can manage.

   

           

Responses published this month Articles Responses REVIEWS Phir Milenge       Nadeeja Koralage (October 2004) Aarti Sardana (October 06, 2004) Read this response REVIEWS Phir Milenge       Nadeeja Koralage (October 2004) Aarti Sardana, Intern, Medical College, Baroda, India (October 06, 2004)       aartisardana@rediffmail.com Finally bollywood comes of age in making a movie on HIV-AIDS that does not take pity on the 'poor' HIV positive patient who is made a social outcast and ostracised almost everywhere.It rather is a bold step in initiating awareness about the subject among the masses ,and issue that needs addressal in a major way .Considering the growing number of HIV-AIDS cases in India ,the efforts that are being made on the front leave much to be desired. The film depicts the determination of an HIV-afflicted woman who instead of shying away from the public eye or getting bogged down by the hostile behaviour of colleagues fights for her own cause.This is a refreshing change from the image of 'downtrodded-woman tortured by men and society'that the films usually tend to portray .Such films will go a long way in contributing to the cause of protection of human rights and prevention of discrimination against patients of AIDS.Hats off to the director who herself is hailed as a strong and independent woman in a male dominated society.Society needs crusaders for noble causes.