AIDS Jago: Short Films (2007).
Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, for one of their project on helping humanity, have united with 4 directors Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santosh Sivan and Vishal Bharadwaj to co-produce 4 short films on issues regarding AIDS education and awareness. These short films are taking the AIDS awareness on more personal level with some beautiful and some incredible journeys involving blood relations, lovers and strangers with urges either sexual or just plain human.
1. Migration (2007).
Directed by: Mira Nair.
Written by: Zoya Akhtar.
Starring: Shiney Ahuja, Sameera Reddy, Irfan Khan and Raima Sen.
URL: MIGRATION
Migration is a set of parallel stories between a husband and his lover, husband’s wife, a mason worker his wife and infants. This short is very well directed, right from the drought death visuals to marine drive tides. The cinematography is eye catching. Thanks to Shiney Ahuja’s speaking eyes and Irfan Khan’s emotions for his lover, one way maybe. The core message of the story is delivered by sex education street actor Vijay Raaz with Beedi song in the background. Its the unconventional migration that is thought and written by Zoya Akhtar gives a different but convincing journey. It was exciting to see marathi stage and screen actress Sulabha Deshpande as Sameera’s mother-in-law, little has she changed from Choukat Raja’s (1991) mother.
2. Positive (2007).
Directed by: Farhan Akhtar.
Written by: Rajesh Devraj.
Starring: Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi and Arjun Mathur.
URL: POSITIVE
Positive is the story of AIDS awareness for a family as one of the members becomes HIV positive. The effects of it in a broad picture and a very tiny extremely personal point of view is very well written by Rajesh Devraj, whose future writings are Farhan Akhtar starrer Fakir of Venice and Shashanka Ghosh project Quick Gun Murugun. Boman Irani is fantastic with his lowering speaking abilities and at the same time with the desires of a young photographer to capture something. But it needed Farhan Akhtar’s trick to bring out the moment absolutely necessary for this story. The moment when Arjun’s character is positioning the rose in the window. This is perhaps the same transformation moment that occured in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) when Akash (Aamir Khan) calls up Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) only to realise subconsciously he dialed Sid’s (Akshaye Khanna) number. Incredible. Shabana Azmi is short but plays the character who has already past previously mentioned transformation.
3. Prarambha (2007).
Directed by: Santosh Sivan.
Starring: Prabhu Deva and Skandhas.
URL: PRARAMBHA
A truck driver (Prabhu Deva) finds an unknown boy Kittu (Skandhas) hiding in the back of his truck. Truck driver finds it unsolvable to get rid of an unknown boy riding with him. Kittu hands him a letter written by his mother with an address. Truck driver agrees to take him there. But then out of humanity he finds himself on a quest to make the people around Kittu realise what he feels for kittu. This movie is a cry out towards those strangers who might have some humanity left in them. Prabhu Deva does a great job. His apological and optimistic smiles are the driving force for the audience and kittu as well. Skandhas as Kittu is nothing short of a applauding performance. He represents the understanding son, rejected school friend and a happy boy. Though there aren’t many opportunities for Mr Sivan to use his lens he still captures the moments that do not need words.
4. Blood Brothers (2007).
Directed by: Vishal Bharadwaj.
Story idea by: Matthew Robbins and Ajit Ahuja.
Starring: Siddharth, Pavan Malhotra and Ayesha Takia.
URL: Blood Brothers
This story brings in the most courageous factor in the AIDS awareness. The point of view of the main victim, the one with the disease. This is the best short among the four. An ordinary man hears his doctor say that he is HIV positive. Devastated by the news he gives up on his life to find something that out smarts him. This is an absolutely astonishing story. This movie proves the fact that you do not need 1000 cuts in a 5 min movie to make it interesting. Though non-linearity exists in the narration it never seems a cliche by the creation of scars on Siddharth’s faces. This short challenges the viewer by putting in the shoes of the protagonist and ask them what if? Kudos to Mr Bharadwaj. This one is a must see.
Overall rating: 8/10.
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I have seen all the four films on Jaman and Mira Nair’s short film was the most unsatisfactory one.
This was the first of the four films that I saw and after it ended I just didn’t feel anything for any of the characters; more importantly the message that yes, the AIDS virus can travel from a construction labourer to an upper middle class houesewife, then to the husband (may be), then to the unborn child, was so not convincing.
The moment of weakness that Sameera R’s character has that gets her into that tryst with Shiney is shown to be so unreal - I thought - this can never ever happen; and
once this comes into the head, no matter what the story has lost its purpose because the very essence of this mini-film was to tell us that such things can happen in real
life and that one can get infected with the HIV virus in the least expected way. A real diappointment this film.
Santosh Sivan’s film was goood, primarily because of Prabu Deva. I didn’t find his trademark cinematograpghy and visual style and this film didn’t ask for it. It was
the story about how an infected child is taken in by a complete stranger - the truck driver- played by PD - and given a new lease of life. Both the kid’s and PD’s performances were very touching.
Vishal Bharadwaj as usual hits bullseye with his episode ‘Blood Brothers’. What happens when one is diagonised +ve with HIV? Give up everything and get ready to die? That’s what Siddarth’s character does only to find out later that its a gross mistake on the doctor’s part to mix up the reports. Pankaj Kapoor’s cameo is brilliant. Such a contrast - a well paid upscale doctor can a make a life alerting mistake while a local doc in some unknown decrepit clinic gets the records correct. Amazing.
Finally, Siddarth’s onus to tell the “actual” infected namesake (Pawan Malhotra) and what then happens this what this story is about. Very well narrated and acted out. I
could really feel the characters and what they undergo. The film achieved its objective.
The last one By Farhan Akthar was engrossing too. How Boman Irani’s philandering charac gets infected is predictable but how Shabana Azmi as the wife and the son
handle whole situation is the highlight of the film.
All in all its a good effort by the foundation. The more people see these films the better.
Oops…just wrote what I felt as I read this article. Realized its soo looong when I submitted it…Apologize if its tedious…was unintended.. I hope its ok (No clue how the xtra spacings came @)…
I really enjoyed the films and was lucky enough to see them on the big screen, here in NYC, when they were shown at the 2007 Mahindra IAAC film festival. I have to say that the Santosh Sivan film was the one that has stayed with me the longest, and his powerful cinematography did come through on the big screen. As an aside, during the screening here, Mira Nair was verbally “attacked” by a gay man in the audience who felt offended by her treatment of the subject and story in “Migration”. And “Blood Brothers” I really enjoyed because Siddhart did such an amazing job. It was great to see that his subtle performance in “Rang De Basanti” wasn’t just a one-time deal!
Nice films- had seen them last year, what a pity they never got released and seen. They were just shown on national geographic and a few channels as far as I know. Then again, I don’t really get the point, shouldn’t films for AIDS awareness be less ‘polished’ and more ‘mass oriented’? I don’t quite see how the masses would be interested in these. In being awareness films, beside they also had to compromise on narrative- though Bhardwaj managed the balance admirably without compromise on message or narrative- very impressive.
Posted with IndiaFM links on my blog:
http://jahansinghbakshi.blogspot.com/2008/04/aids-jaago.html
@ Arthi V,
That is not how migration occured!
hey, I have seen Positive and recently downloaded Blood Brothers. Didn’t know they had so much in common. Anyways, Positive was great. n I hope others are good too.
Weren’t the films meant to be shown before blockbusters, in Indian cinemas? THAT would have made a lot of sense… On their own, or as a whole feature, I agree with the comments which point out that they aren’t completely logical as a choice.
Sadly, I missed the ONE and ONLY showing of this in London.
Any idea as to when the dvd is out internationally?