Sessionals over....finally!

The 16th sessionals of my B.Tech course got over today. Should be the last ones hopefully. Still can't stop thinking about the futility of it all. What rocket science does the university teach us in 4 months that it requires to test twice a semester?(+ the end sems!)

anyways, went for a movie afterwards. This one had been up for some time - "My Brother Nikhil". A well made film, must say. Though i personally feel that more could have been said through the movie, but a notable attempt nonetheless. Its set in Goa around the time of 1989-90 and is about the changes in the life of a person that come with the revelation of the fact that he is HIV+. The way he is mortified and ostracized by the people around him is depicted prominently throughout the film. The film succeeds in portraying the shocking ignorance about the disease that people had at that time. The scene when he jumps into the pool, only to see other swimmers rushing out of it, is quite striking. He is subjected to numerous other ordeals by his friends and family alike. This is when his sister and his boyfriend fight for his cause and succeed in getting him out of the subjected isolation and bring him back to the society. The movie continues showing his efforts to regain a place in the society. However, his health continues deteriorating and he dies in the end.

Apart from the social message in the film, what struck me more was how the relationships were portrayed. The relationship between Juhi Chawla(sister) and Sanjay Suri(Nikhil) covers most of the storyline, as is expected from the title of the movie. But the friendship that Nikhil and Nigel(Purab) share, is shown equally distinctly and beautifully. Although, another issue like homosexuality was involved, I feel, the director succeeded in taking the focus off it and show the solidarity that they shared with more prominence.

Goa is shown beautifully. Especially the seaside by the night. Some scenes were really a visual treat to watch. But here again, it has been masterfully set to act as the backdrop to the story not interfering with it at any moment.

In terms of acting, Sanjay Suri has done a decent job, though he appears to falter in some scenes. However, the work of Juhi Chawla and Purab were really commendable. Overall, I found that movie conveyed what it had to convey and is reasonably fast paced contrary to what is expected of similar films.