Phir Milenge Bollywood takes a brush with AIDS

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Bollywood takes a brush with AIDS - First film on dreaded disease

A voluble Salman Khan looks determined to break the film industry's

prolonged silence on one of the most pressing issues of the day: AIDS.

Phir Milenge, a blockbuster starring Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan

and Shilpa Shetty, is the first mainstream film to tackle the subject

directly. The film is directed by Chennai-based actor-turned-director

Revathi, whose debut effort was the critically acclaimed Mitr. The

movie is set for a June release.

" Can I say the film is about AIDS? " asked a playful Salman at

Tuesday's news conference on Phir Milenge. He said a film would

create more awareness about the disease than speeches in English or

instructions like " chhata pehn " or " topi pehn " .

" People have died so many times of heart attacks in films. The father

always dies of heart attacks. Even Amrish Puri dies of heart attacks,

which is very difficult to imagine, " Salman said in jest, before

adding seriously: " The subject of AIDS in a film should generate

reaction. "

Phir Milenge is a love story, with Salman playing a singer, Shilpa a

successful and independent-minded advertising professional and

Abhishek a lawyer who takes up Shilpa's difficult " case " . The deadly

disease breaks into Salman and Shilpa's life, but to find out how,

one has to watch the film.

Revathi does not say if any of the characters suffers from the

disease or dies of it, but it was reported that Salman's character

had no takers when she first came up with the idea. The actor stepped

in for old time's sake, having acted with her more than a decade ago.

Revathi admits it was difficult to find an actor for Salman's role,

with several turning it down. But she says this is not the time to

talk about it, adding that she is not sure if the role was refused

because of the social stigma attached to AIDS or some other problem.

But the director's problems do not end there. The film's subject has

made it difficult to market the movie. Revathi and her actors are

afraid Phir Milenge will be branded " a project about AIDS " if they

speak too much about the disease and that the audience may not head

to the theatres thinking it is another " documentary type " film.

No surprise then that Revathi says " How can the film be about AIDS?

AIDS is not a person! " when asked if her film deals with the

subject. " It is the backdrop of the film, " is all she says.

Shailendra Singh of the Percept Group echoes her. The film is a joint

venture of Percept Picture Company, jointly owned by the Percept

Group and Sahara Manoranjan. " Phir Milenge is an adult love story and

AIDS is… the backdrop, " he says.

Shailendra adds that one of his previous films, Pyar Mein Kabhi

Kabhi, had taken up the subject, though the film was not based on the

theme; there haven't been too many films on AIDS, he points out.

That is an understatement. It highlights how Bollywood and mainstream

cinema across the country has shied away from AIDS, which remains

hidden from popular consciousness even though a reported four million

Indians are believed to have the HIV virus. The epidemic is spreading

rapidly from urban to rural areas and from high-risk groups to the

general population.

India has the second-largest concentration of AIDS-afflicted people,

behind sub-Saharan Africa which has an estimated 28 million sufferers.

Mahesh Manjrekar's Nidaan and Rituparno Ghosh's Ashukh are some of

the feature films that deal with the subject. Art need not be

prompted by a social cause, but there have hardly been any other

movies on the subject. Certainly, they failed to make an impact.

" The problem may have been that it is difficult to portray an AIDS

victim than other diseases like cancer or tuberculosis, the reason

why heroes can be made to suffer from them, " says a film writer. " But

that is all right. I do not see any reason why a film has to be made

on a subject because it is a great social concern, " he says.

CHANDRIMA S. BHATTACHARYA IN MUMBAI

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040527/asp/nation/story_3297298.asp