Movie Review
Phir Milenge getting fame from worldwide
Shilpa's latest film 'Phir Milenge'
might have flopped at the box office, but the film and Shilpa are still getting
fame and praise from all over the world.
Recently, many top news paper/online papers (The
Washington Post,
San Francisco Chronicle,
The
Boston Globe
The Advocate,
Gulf Daily News,
Utusan Malaysia Online,
News24,
Canada.com,
London Free Press,
CBC New Brunswick,
Miami Herald)
have featured countless number of articles on Phir Milenge.
by: Dechen Shilpa Shetty Online
By Taran Adarsh, August 27th, 2004 - 1600 hrs IST
The good news first! Hindi
cinema is truly evolving, with newer themes being attempted at amazing
regularity. In that respect, PHIR MILENGE makes an attempt to spread awareness
about HIV/AIDS and how it affects the lives of those who get infected.
PHIR MILENGE does take the issue forward and with known names lending faces to
the on-screen characters, the message would reach out to many at a go. Those
with misconceptions about the ailment might get enlightened, to an extent.
And now the bad news!
With the best of stars at her disposal and good financial backing in the form of
Percept and Sahara, Revathy could've cleared a lot of myths pertaining to
HIV/AIDS. But neither does the film emerge as an engaging HIV/AIDS awareness
exercise, nor does it come across as a hard-hitting courtroom drama.
Most importantly, the film talks of HIV/AIDS, the stigma associated with it and
the untimely death of the person infected with the virus, but it doesn't talk of
the available treatment that keeps the person alive and healthy for years
together. In fact, the film is more about despair/misery/death and less about
hope/optimism/life!
There are millions of people who have been infected with the virus, are well
aware of it and leading a normal life. In today's times, Anti-Retroviral drugs
are being used the world over. Strangely, not even once does PHIR MILENGE
mention it.
After you've watched the
pre-climax, you feel there's no hope for a person who has been infected with the
disease. That's not true at all! Even if there's no cure, there's still hope and
available treatment all over the world. With good nutrition and exercise,
hygiene and precaution and Anti-Retroviral therapy [if prescribed], one can
carry on with his/her life like any other normal person. Ideally, this should've
been the conclusion of the film, in keeping with the current state of affairs!
Tamanna [Shilpa Shetty] works in an advertising agency. Her fresh, innovative
ideas have resulted in the agency bagging the prized campaigns. She has a
younger sister, Tanya, a radio jockey.
At her art and theatre school reunion, Tamanna meets old-time friend Rohit [Salman
Khan] yet again, a person she was always attracted to. In the romantic settings
of the college, love blossoms between Tamanna and Rohit and they spend some
intimate moments together.
A few months later, Tamanna gets to know about her HIV + status. Her life comes
to a screeching halt. Tamanna tries to get in touch with Rohit, but in vain. He
is untraceable.
Tamanna loses her job due to her HIV + status. But she decides to fight for the
gross injustice meted out to her. Unfortunately, none of the lawyers are ready
to argue the case. Later, Tarun [Abhishek Bachchan], a young lawyer, comes to
her rescue.
Will Tamanna set her life back in order? Does Rohit come back? Does she
forgive Rohit?
The problem with the script of PHIR MILENGE is that it borrows heavily from
director Jonathan Demme's much-acclaimed Hollywood flick PHILADELPHIA [1993; Tom
Hanks, Denzel Washington]. Well, nothing wrong with being inspired by an
acclaimed and successful film, but that film looked at the HIV/AIDS issue in
America way back in 1993 - eleven years ago.
The medical fraternity has made tremendous progress ever since. But PHIR MILENGE,
a film made in 2004, makes no references to the progress and the available
treatment. That only proves that the writers have lifted the story from a film
made 11 years ago, but not incorporated fresh ideas or updated themselves about
the issue.
Besides this glaring defect, PHIR MILENGE is also handicapped by a flawed
script. Salman Khan's characterization, for instance, is the weakest of the
three principal characters. He disappears after the first 15 minutes and
surfaces only towards the end for another few minutes.
Besides, the courtroom sequences that dominates the post-interval portions
debate on the abilities and competency of Tamanna, which gets boring after a
point. Of course, the vital sequence filmed on Abhishek in the concluding reels
does raise a point, but it's spoken in English entirely. Why? A strong message
like that should've been delivered in Hindi, in order to reach out to the
masses!
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.
The film has barely three songs - 'Jeene Ke Ishaare', 'Khul Ke Muskurale'
and 'Kuch Pal'. There's no denying that the songs come at proper points, but one
misses some relief towards the grim post-interval portions. Also, the much
publicized and extremely popular 'Betaab Dil Hai' is just not there in the film,
which would catch the viewer unaware. Cinematography is of standard. Dialogues
are functional.
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. She conveys the
pain and the emotional upheaval through her expressive eyes, making it amongst
the most memorable performances the year has seen so far.
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. The untidy and unshaven
look is not what the viewer expects to watch, even though the film is meant to
be realistic.
Nasser [as the senior lawyer] looks the part. Mita Vashisht [as the lawyer] is
convincing. The actors in the role of the boss and Shilpa's sister are strictly
okay.
On the whole, PHIR MILENGE is a half-baked experiment that neither works as an
issue-based film or a courtroom drama. At the box-office, the film has
face-value to attract the cinegoers, but not strong content to keep them glued
to the screen. Besides, fans of Salman Khan will feel embittered since the actor
is being highlighted in its promotion, but has a mere 15-20 minute role in the
film. In the final tally, PHIR MILENGE may appeal to a small chunk of
multiplex-going audiences, but for the majority, its rejection is imminent.
Rating:- * ˝.
Phir Milenge: Sensitive attempt
That Phir Milenge is the story of a
person infected with AIDS is well known.
That Hindi films are often inspired by Hollywood is also well known.
So shall we expect an Indian adaptation of the Tom Hanks-Denzel Washington
starrer Philadelphia from Revathy?
Yes, and no.
Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty) is the creative head of an ad agency. She meets Rohit (Salman
Khan) at her annual vacation to her alma mater. Old friendships are rekindled,
and the two get romantically involved.
One day, Tamanna's sister Tania meets with an accident and Tamanna is required
to donate blood. That's when Tamanna discovers she has AIDS.
The knowledge sends her into shock.
She withdraws from the world and locks herself up at home. When her employer
visits her to enquire about her absence is, she tells him the truth.
The next day, Tamanna summons the courage to return to work but is in for a
bigger shock. She gets strange looks from her colleagues, finds her cabin
rearranged and gets replaced in the organisation.
Enter Abhishek Bachchan, the lawyer, who helps her out.
Revathy spins a sensitive tale in her second film, after Mitr: My Friend.
The film has been adapted well to the Indian palate, and AIDS is woven
delicately into the story.
It educates without being preachy, something it may have been in the danger of.
It tends to drag in the first half but more than touches your heartstrings
later.
But Salman looks very healthy, despite being an AIDS patient in the last stage.
Shetty comes up with a rare, subdued performance. Her life and work have been
snatched from her, but yet, she refuses to bow to circumstances.
Abhishek pales in comparison to Denzel Washington, who played the lawyer in the
Hollywood original. He lacks in oratorical skills, especially in the climax.
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.
Mita Vashisht excels as the hard-nosed lawyer, who will not stop from advising
her clients to lie in order to win the case.
Phir Milenge is worth a watch for its sensitive handling of a delicate subject,
AIDS.
CREDITS
Cast: Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Mita Vashisht
Director: Revathy
Music: Shankar-Loy-Ehsaan and Bhavatha Raja
Background:
After making an acclaimed directorial debut titled ‘Mitr - My Friend’, the
former actress Revathy strikes back with the hard hitting drama ‘Phir Milenge’.
The film stars Shilpa Shetty and Abhishek Bachchan in the lead roles, however
since their box office draw is rather limited, the movie is being sold on a
short special appearance by Salman Khan and of course the topic being tackled -
AIDS.
Synopsis:
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!
Critique:
Inspired by Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia (starring Tom Hanks and Denzel
Washington), Phir Milenge focuses on AIDS but prefers to use English as a medium
of communication. If this Hindi film had to reach out to the masses, it needed
much more conversation in Hindi and it is a pity that it doesn't.
One wonders why Revathy did not credit with the writer Robert Nyswaner's name, when she has completely lifted the plot from Philadelphia.
Salman Khan has a role not more than a few minutes in the film, which may shock his fans, considering how the film has been promoted. His performance is fine.
Shilpa Shetty after Dhadkan gives another top performance. She is good in the film as the traumatised girl.
But it is Abhishek Bachchan who steals the show.
The audience may have expected some sensitivity from a female director, but Revathy's work isn’t as impressive as her debut.
The cinematography is interestingly done, but the music doesn't go with the flow of the film.
Conclusion:
Phir Milenge fails to move. There is no way the film will get a repeat
audience as the title suggests.
