SAAFA Review


Here is a movie, which addresses a current day pandemic that affects the world, but certainly affects India and its society. Celebrities in India have died of AIDS and the cause was never mentioned, when their obituary was read. This is in sharp contrast to U.S where celebrities like Magic Johnson have come out and actually helped raise more awareness of AIDS, in India, it took Bill Gates to really highlight the issue. That is, until My Brother Nikhil!

The first thing that strikes is the absolute lack of melodrama in the acting. Perhaps having Sanjay Suri, Purabh Kohli, Gaurav Kapoor, Victor and Lilette and a mellowed down Juhi, helped. Clearly the director runs it almost like a feature documentary, where the emphasis is on the underlying theme, as opposed to the underlying film. Without it being too melodramatic, the film indicates a strong script true to both the medium and the message, which in itself was ironical and positive.

My Brother Nikhil respects the audience intelligence. It does not go to the preachy mode, yet it communicates very powerful messages, proving a tightly woven theme. Case in point is the reacceptance of Nikhil, by his parents, in a matter of fact, yet astonishingly dramatic moment. Another case in point is that the actual cause of how the HIV virus was acquired, is not documented and why should it? The film is about the REAL issue in Indian society- What now?

Its heart wrenching to watch the instances where people leave the pool when Nikhil enters it, of folks not willing to touch the patient. The film attempts to restore the most basic human right, one of self-respect. This movie was made on a shoestring budget, but technically that fact is not apparent. The editing, emoting, camerawork and flow is seamless and solid. It is said that the script was written in 10 days, but the technical finesse is indicative of a decade long experience.

The negatives of the film, are the somewhat Bollywood acting by Juhi Chawla, although her presence is also the “book cover” which is important in issue based films and the fact that it has elements of Philadelphia (the movie). My Brother Nikhil will hopefully be able to address the same issue in India, the issue of social ostracism and denial.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

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Review by Vivek Kumar, Co-Founder and Admin Director, SAAFA (www.saafa.org)

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