Phir Milenge, directed by Revathy has its soft and tender moments, scenes that touch the heart but they are so few and come between so much of tears and lectures that they get lost.
Bollywood has finally risked a full length commercial movie tackling the rather taboo subject of AIDS. Rohit (Salman Khan) is a relaxed, laid-back type of person. During a school reunion, Rohit has a fling with Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty). Flash forward a few years - they're both living in different parts of the world and Tamanna tests HIV positive. Naturally she's completely shocked and realises she caught HIV from Rohit, since that's been her only sexual experience.
Tamanna, who works in advertising, loses her job, which seems completely unfair because she's worked hard for the company and played a large part in its success. She vows to return to work and also wants to find Rohit to discover how he's dealing with HIV.
She meets Tarun (Abhishek Bachchan), a dynamic lawyer who takes on her case and fights for Tamanna's rights. The climax is the only redeeming factor in the film, so we'll stop the synopsis there without revealing too much!
Revathy takes the germ of her idea from Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" - where a cynical lawyer fights against an AIDS victim's professional persecution and learns a few things about a life on the brink of a blink - and opens it up to include issues that go way beyond physical disorders.
What makes "Phir Milenge" unique, if not exceptional, is its tone of narration. The characters speak and 'act' with an urbane casualness that's the opposite of the ham-and-cheesy performances typical of our melodramas. The tone may be incomprehensible to a section of the audience. But it doesn't mean we should never go beyond cute lisping sounds just to cater to the elementary audience.
The cinematography is intimate as needed by the story. Revathy's direction is sensitive and sensible but she has allowed the message to override the human story. In the process of educating she has made the film boring. And what exactly is the film trying to say? On one hand the atmosphere in the art school is bohemian on the other AIDS is equated to promiscuity because everyone presumes Shilpa is sleeping around. And even if she were, since when has the ad world become so straight laced.
Director Revathy deserves a pat for attempting an issue-based film [Mahesh Manjrekar's NIDAAN was also based on this issue]. But it's evident that she hasn't done complete research and updated herself on the issue. Even otherwise, her storytelling is of the kind that might only appeal to a niche audience. Even the multiplex crowd might get restless after a point since the film moves at a snail's pace throughout.
PHIR MILENGE belongs to Shilpa Shetty completely. She delivers, what can be rightly called, the performance of her career. The viewer feels and empathizes with the character mainly because of her effective portrayal.
Salman Khan is hardly there for 15-20 minutes in the film. Despite a miniscule role, the actor leaves an impression. Abhishek Bachchan's performance is first-rate, but he ought to take care of his appearance.
Phir Milenge benefits from appearances by the legendary Somayajulu (who acted in the Telugu classic, Shankarabharanam) and Tamil actor Nasser. Both have given sterling performances in their cameos.
On the whole, Phir Milenge is worth a watch for its sensitive handling of a delicate subject, AIDS.
