"Message of HIV awareness was lost in Mira's film" - Nafisa Ali 
By Daily News & Analysis, December 5, 2007 - 14:16 IST
Why didn’t you like Mira’s film?
I was asked to grade the four films according my liking. Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Blood Brother’s’ was on top of my list, while I thought the message of
HIV awareness was somewhere lost in Mira’s film.
What makes you say that?
Spreading awareness about AIDS and helping HIV affected patients has been my crusade for the past 14 years.
And I thought that a migrant labourer jumping into a middle-class woman’s house and having intercourse with her is a very one-off case, which may
not really appeal to a large section of the audience.
But isn’t it the message that really matters?
Of course. But sadly, unlike the other films, the sensitivity that is required to portray a message like this is missing in Mira’s film.
The subject of homosexuality too is very unclear dealt with. The common man, who the film should have addressed, may take it more like a fictional
story rather than a reflection of reality.
Any other reason why you think so?
There is a scene in the film where the nurse comes up to the patient and says ‘aapko AIDS hai, aapko doctor se milna padega.’
Out of the thousands of cases I have encountered, doctors take patients through a counseling session rather than revealing it so blatantly.
Also the film has an ‘A’ rating which automatically rules out 40 percent of the audience.
How were the other films different from this one?
Vishal’s (Bharadwaj) film I thought was brilliantly done where a common man stops living life the minute he knows he has contracted the disease,
without realising that life’s not come to an end.
Santosh Sivan’s film too dealt with a very relavant issue of discrimination against HIV+ kids.
|
Vishal Bhardwaj to compose for Mira Nair's next 
