A Commercial Documentary. Review on Phir Milenge

Often in bollywood, movies are made to bridge the gap between mainstream commercial cinema and offbeat movies in parallel stream so that both moviegoers and moviemakers enjoy the benefit of both. And one such recent experiment is ?Phir Milenge? directed by Revathy who has already directed ?Mitr? which was not reached to common people as it belonged to offbeat movie and one can watch it only in DVD?s and CD?s. Revathy in a recent interview said,? I am very serious about making serious films based on social issues?. She proved these words through ?Phir Milenege?.

The story moves around a single character Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty) who is working as a designer in an advertising company and company gets so many accolades and awards because of Tamanna?s brilliance in work. She says, ?Professional Life is my personal life? and lives accordingly. What happens when she acquires HIV +ve that too because of her sexual intercourse with her lover Rohit (Salman khan) who himself is not aware of that he is having HIV +ve and how she fights for justice for all discrimination that she faced as a consequence of this disease with the help of a corporate lawyer Tarun (Abhishek Bachan) forms the crux of the film.

The movie has a gripping screenplay and sharp dialogues. The first half runs at a fast pace and the second half is relatively slower but I think it is quite a fitting pace for the chosen plot. The movie raises three questions

~ Why so called well educated high-class people are still ignorant of the difference between HIV and AIDS

~ Why so far there are no laws in Indian judiciary to protect AIDS patients from such official discrimination

The best scenes that arise above questions are when her boss avoids giving her a handshake after knowing that she is HIV +ve. Even Tarun, the lawyer treats her differently after knowing the fact. A friend of her refuses to attend her birthday party quoting her disease as the reason. And above all, the second half fully emphasize on the fact that no laws are framed yet to save such people through the words of a senior lawyer played by Nasser.

Apart from the social issues, the relationships between the characters are brilliantly portrayed. The friendly relation between Tamanna and her sister Tania are portrayed by down to earth natural conversation between them and also the care they take on each other, love between Tamanna and Rohit is visualized very poetically, father like relation between Tamanna and her boss Subramaniam is well portrayed in initial scenes. Even tarun and Tamanna very naturally build up a thin emotional bonding between each other.

Shipa shetty has given an extraordinary performance (career?s best) by effectively portraying different shades of her character. As a intelligent hard working designer in a advertising company, as a caring and lovable sister, as a soft lady love of Rohit, as a victim of HIV +ve bearing all the painful consequences, as a optimistic fighter for justice and a frustrated woman on seeing socities reaction on her fate. I can?t mention a single scene, as this is best, she dominates in each and every scene with her sheer beauty, screen presence, beautiful costumes and also her expressions. Really her eye speaks volumes of her emotions than words.

Abhishek Bachan as the lawyer does yet another memorable and a brilliant performance this year after ?Yuva?. He has matured a lot as an actor. I was very much impressed by his voice modulation while delivering final words in the court in the climax and also his subtle face expressions. Also he often evokes laughter with timed one-liners and mannerisms. Keep it up Jr.Bachan.

In initial scenes I didn?t like Salmankhan in Rohit?s role, he looks older and he lost the charisma but in the climax he too scores by his final face expressions before death.

One more commendable performance is from the girl who played Tamanna?s sister role. She is so natural in her expressions and witty dialogue delivery. She dilutes this densely packed serious film with some lighter moments in the first half. Nasser as senior lawyer and Kitty as helpless boss does their job well.

All the credits go to Revathy as the director of the movie for choosing such a sensitive subject and dealing it with utmost care and also making it commercially appealing. She has extracted the best performance from all the cast. The cinematography was good especially the scenes between Tamanna and Rohit are beautifully picturised. Editing is fine.

Background music by Bhavatha raja is brilliant. She is the daughter of legendary south Indian music composer Maestro Illayaraja. Music is in her genes. I was surprised by her background music; she is promising as a musician. She has good orchestration skills and she has used guitar, flute and violin orchestration in the background all through the movie and her music elevates the emotions in the scene. The solo flute pieces, the sax piece at the title card, the harmony while Tamanna enters ICU where Rohit is counting his final seconds and mantras and slogas composed as background for moments where Tamanna and Rohit are pulled towards each other, drum beats preceding for each hearing in the court are worth listening and mentioning. Though it has a south Indian flavor all through it fits well to the mood. The romantic song sung by Shankar mahadevan with best usage of guitar is one among the best melodies of this year.

Don?t expect that an issue-based film should give a solution. This movie instead raises triggers lot of questions in minds of people on this issue. After seeing this movie, I feel this movie is certainly meant for multiplex audience because those are people who still have prejudices on AIDS though they are educated and it is important to create awareness to these people first.

I had lot of expectation on this movie as this is Revathy?s first commercial venture and also after knowing about UN appreciation, I was even more curios to watch the movie. It fulfilled my expectation and I recommend this movie to one and all. It is worth watching at least once. But as a tamilian I have a wish that Revathy should direct such movies in Tamil soon.