I saw a wonderful film over the weekend called My Brother Nikhil.
I recommend it to all. It’s truly a novel film experience because for the first time an Indian film-maker has ventured into portraying a relationship between two gay men, without stereotyping or getting preachy. There is no melodrama and no corny gay jokes.
Another interesting fact is that, it’s loosely based on a true story though all the facts have been juggled around. For instance, the homosexual angle is I guess fiction.
I belonged to a theatre group that started the NGO called Positive People in Goa, established in memory of the first person who succumbed to HIV way back in 1988.
Like in the film, this person also experienced a traumatic jouney and became a guinea pig, in a state which was wrought with ignorance and prejudices about HIV.
In reality, he was a member of Mustard Seeds, a creative, talented man who got unlucky. This chap was isolated and treated a kin to a criminal.
I cried at one of the last scenes in the film, featuring Victor Banerjee, Lilette Dubey and Purab Kohli, where the two traditionalists, accept their son’s gay partner. How difficult it must be for parents to rearrange their value system.
Hey Brian, do I detect a tinge of cynacism there? Actually, Positive People is managed by a friends of mine who are truly sincere and beleive in what they are doing.
Also, this was not a Hollywood film but a Bollywood film. Bollywood is basically the Indian film industry, which is based in Mumbai and apparently produces the largest number of films in a year.