'Life is a moment. For a moment it's there and in a moment it's gone'
What would you do if you find out that you are HIV positive, you are infected by the only person you ever loved, you cannot trace that person for answers and the worst of all your boss throws you out of your job for which you have given everything, just because he fears you would infect him and the other employees ? Sit and Sulk or
..fight !
Coming from a director of the beautiful movie 'Mitr', the movie 'Phir Milenge' has lived, lived to it's expectations, lived to tell a tale, lived to spread a message that otherwise one would have dared of. The movie is sensitive and touching, and even though it may have been written off by critics as commercially unacceptable, in my opinion it is one of the most beautiful movie ever made in mainstream Bollywood cinema. Truly the Hindi film industry has grown up, matured and come of age.
The plot is largely based on the classic movie 'Philadelphia'. In fact many scenes are directly picked up from that movie, but at the end of the day , this movie is different, may not be as hard hitting as the former, but it is good enough none the less. In fact even people like me who have already seen Philadelphia would easily find contrast from that movie. The former tells about an 'AIDS' infected homosexual, who sues his firm for discrimination for not only being infected, but mind you for being homosexual, years ago in USA, but 'Phir Milenge' , note carefully is the story of an heterosexual woman, who is 'HIV Positive' (Note: She still hasn't got full blown AIDS), who is discriminated by her firm for having HIV, in today's world, in India ! If it still sounds similar read the fine print again.
As far as the performances go, Salman Khan is excellent in his little cameo especially in the scenes in which he is shown to die. Abhsheik Bachaan is outstanding. He almost does as Good as Denzel in the original. Nasser as the heartless defense lawyer is great. The music is soothing and touching.
But clearly the entire credit of the movie goes to two women. Revathy, who brings forward one of the best direction ever seen in Hindi cinema and Shilpa Shetty for one of the best performance ever in a mainstream role. Though these may seem exaggerations, but once you see the movie you would realize that it's not.
The best part of the movie, is it's ending, it is conspicuous by it's absence ! The movie doesn't end in a conventional way. The director has intelligently implanted loose ends to it , first to signify that there are absolutely no laws in India to help the victims of HIV, and second to show that even and HIV patient can live, and live long.
For those who complained India lacked realistic cinema, it's time for you to stop complaining. Bye for now, Phir Milenge on IMDb.com
