Sensitive and heart-warming. Review on Phir Milenge

Phir Milenge succeeds on two counts. Firstly in its daring portrayal of a courageous young dynamic professional who contracts AIDS in an encounter with a boyfriend, fights society and continues two live life. And secondly with the fine performances from an ensemble cast with the sole exception of Salman Khan.

Phir Milenge is a coming of age film. Tamana Sahni (Shilpa Shetty) is a successful creative head at a leading advertising agency who lives with her younger sister. On a ten year reunion of her college friends, she comes across Rohit Manchanda her college sweetheart. Sparks fly and Rohit leaves for New York promising to return back.

Tamana loses Rohit?s contact details subsequently and Rohit is untraceable. However, Tamana?s upbeat life is suddenly shattered when she realizes she has AIDS after attempting to donate blood to her younger sister who met with an accident. Her subsequent ousting from her job and the heartless attitude of her Boss with whom she shared almost a paternal relationship with shatters her world until she decides to fight back and reclaim her life. In the meanwhile she comes across Abhishek Bachchan a lawyer who takes on her cause and helps her win her battle.

The film has been very sensitively handled and abounds in heartwarming moments. The scene in which Tamana?s younger sister tells her to stop discriminating against herself before asking others to do so, the moment when a lawyer holds Tamana?s hand despite knowing she has AIDS, the final hearing at the court and most of all the climax will melt the hearts of even the most cynical and jaded audience.

While I would not like to reveal the climax, I must say that it manages to end the film on a highly optimistic note, and is truly heartwarming. Full marks to the writer who manages to bring out the message that a person with the AIDS disease does not stop experiencing the joys of a normal life.

Director Revathy needs to be commended for choosing a daring yet very noble theme and handling it with the sensitivity it deserves. The film does manage to give a very accurate picture of AIDS without being preachy. The film also succeeds in avoiding excessive melodrama making the audience relate to the proceedings on a very real level.

The film also has some fantastically written characters such as that of Tamana?s boss and his lawyer, played superbly with Mita Vashisht.

Shilpa Shetty triumphs in a breakthrough performance that establishes her credibility without any doubt as an actress par excellence. She is very expressive and lends her character the dignity and poise it deserves. Not overacting in a single scene, she delivers a very honest performance communicating every emotion with amazing clarity.

Abhishek Bachchan also turns in a sensitive performance that would rank among his best. Salman Khan in a cameo is disappointing while Mita Vashisht turns in a fantastic performance.

The rest of the supporting cast also do very well.

Overall, Phir Milenge is worth a watch.

Its only shortcoming is its sluggish pace in its first forty-five minutes where it should have been trimmed.