Thursday, October 12, 2006

Phir Milenge : We will meet again

PHIR MILENGE
_________________________

Basic Plot: Tammana (Shilpa Shetty) is an advertising hotshot, and discovers that she is HIV positive after a one night stand with her former crush, Rohit (Salman Khan). The company that Tammana works for says that she is incompetant and asks her to leave work.

{Actually, one day she just walks into her office and finds another bloke in her "cabin"}


Tammana feels as though she has been discriminated against because of her HIV status and seeks legal help. Enter Tarun (Abishek Bachan). The film is directed by South actress, Revathy whose last film was Mitr-My Friend. She also had a role in Phir Milenge as Tammana's (and her sister's) doctor.


THE STORY
It's so great to see that Bollywood can move away from the glitz, glamour and choreography and produce something that is so relevant - the issue of being HIV + and having to live in a society that still discriminates against people who are suffering with it. In South Africa, the media is often criticized for depicting HIV/AIDS as a "poor" "black" disease. This stigma needs to be rid of, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the character in the film was a well-to-do, good-looking and successful young woman.

The message also comes across clearly that no matter who you are, or what your background is, the infection can be transmitted by just a one night stand.

SHILPA SHETTY
Shilpa has definitely proven herself as an actress in this film. No doubt, she's a bombshell - one of the sexiest stars in the industry to date, but damn - she blew me away with her performance in Phir Milenge. Her expressions were right on cue and definitely heart-felt.

SALMAN KHAN
Even though we only see him for maybe a maximum of 20 minutes throughout the film, Salman Khan does a fairly good job with his role as Rohit. At first, after the one night stand with Tammana, you may feel angry at his sudden disappearance, but towards the end, he redeems himself, and one can almost feel the pain and anguish portrayed in his facial expressions.

ABHISHEK BACHAN
Abishek is believable as an attorney. During his initial meeting with Tammana I was irritated with his character, who after having realized that Tammana was HIV +, he rushed to his doctor friend - just to make sure he hadn't been affected. But he (like Salman's character) also redeems himself, as he turns out to be a great friend to Tammana...all her other friends slowly drifted away after realizing her status.

One more thing - I can't say that I cared too much for AB's look in this film. I think he looked untidy and under-groomed. I don't think it suited his character, but because I have a huge crush on him at the moment, I'm going to try my best to let it pass.....


OTHER TIDBITS
  • Some of the subtitles were a bit off and didn't match what was being said
    eg: In English, Tammana's sister, Tania says "I want to say I am really sorry" but the subtitle read "I want to say I am really angry"

  • When Rohit had reached the last stage of the infection, where was his family? We only see Tammana with him.

  • Shouldn't have Tammana been given counselling before being told she was HIV positive?

  • At times, the court scenes were a bit drawn out.

  • The song picturized at the art school between Tammana & Rohit was a bit cliched - done real ala Bollywood style. He's about to kiss her hand, she gets shy...runs away...he runs after her...they have a moment. Period.

  • During the films promotion, Salman Khan should not have been made out to be the main character. The film clearly belonged to Shilpa Shetty.

10 comments:

Maja said...

Ooh, I'm quite jealous you got to see this, it's been on my list almost since day 1, I reeeally want to see it. I've seen only positive reviews, glad to see you liked it too :)
I love the soundtrack of this movie, the music is so beautiful.

Sheetal said...

MAJA:

You should really try to see this film. Running time is only about 2 hours. Apparently, it's been criticized for having a documentary feel to it, but I think it was great!

The few songs that are in the film are really nice..but don't expect them to break out into extravagant dances!

:)

Sharon said...

I was surprised by how good the movie was because her previous movie - Mitr - wasn't all that.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Shilpa Shetty can actually act, and AB is always awesome :D

Maja said...

Oh, I'd be quite disappointed if a movie with a story like Phir Milenge included extravagant dances, that just wouldn't fit.

Also, you've been tagged! :)

Sheetal said...

SHARON:

I have been wanting to see MITR for a long time, but can't seem to get a copy. As for Shilpa & AB - I agree with you :)

Sheetal said...

MAJA:

I agree - the music was very appropriate to the story line.

I am still thinking about the tag - I promise I will do it soon, I have just been having a bit of a crazy week over here!

:)

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