Dr. Mala Chakravorty

After Page 3 and Black, the film to watch out for is My Brother... Nikhil – a small intimate film about relationships, love and support. Loosely based on Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's Oscar winning documentary Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt (1989), My Brother ... Nikhil confronts us with the reality of HIV/AIDS with simplicity and candor. 

Co-producer-writer-director-editor Onir (Onirban), who started his career by editing films of Sai Paranjpye, Ram Gopal Varma, Prakash Jha and Kalpana Lajmi, makes an impressive debut with this profoundly moving film about alternate sexuality. My Brother ... Nikhil is one of the few Indian films that takes a mature look at homosexuality without being moralistic about sexual orientation or stereotyping homosexuals. In an interview, Onir says that his interest in the subject stems from the way HIV positive cases were treated like criminals and the social persecution they faced. His concern that despite legislative changes brought about after years of activism and awareness raising, Indian society is still beset with ignorance and prejudice about homosexuality and AIDS/HIV, has resulted in this sensitive and non-judgmental film where the central character is as much a victim of bigotry as he is of AIDS.  

Rather than making a documentary on AIDS, Onir fictionalizes the story of an AIDS victim and focuses on human relationships and how they change when faced with a crisis. My Brother … Nihkil portrays, on the one hand, how a happy, loving family can disintegrate when tragedy strikes and on the other, how some bonds can become stronger when dealing with formidable challenges. Onir uses the Brechtian narrative device to tell his story – he makes several characters speak directly to the camera about the protagonist, involving the audience directly as each piece of narration gives a little more information about the protagonist, and eventually the pieces fit into one complete picture. Set in a quaintly picturesque Goa of the 1980s, the film spans Nikhil's (Sanjay Suri) life from 1987 to 1994, when HIV/AIDS awareness was abysmally low and intolerance was equally high. The story, told through the multiple points of view of Nikhil’s parents, sister, friends, lover, unfolds one layer at a time, ending in great moments of drama as the hero and those who love him come to terms with the complete reality of his destiny. 

Through these multiple perspectives, we get to know Nikhil Kapoor -- the handsome, athletic, popular, swimming champion with a bright career ahead of him, doted on by his parents and sister, surrounded by admiring friends. Suddenly, he is discovered to be HIV positive, and his whole world crashes down like a house of cards. His parents, who were so proud of his achievements and had great expectations from him, are unable to face dishonor and abandon him. He is shunned by the very people -- friends, coaches, team members, competitors -- who had adulated him. His career as a sportsman is over; he is fired from his job in a bank and faces humiliation wherever he goes. A victim of extreme social stigma, he is treated like a criminal by the state, incarcerated into a secluded hole and kept in solitary confinement. His basic human dignity is snatched from him and he becomes a social pariah, hated and feared. The only people who stand by him are his sister Anu (Juhi Chawla) and his best friend/partner Nigel (Purab Kohli), who love him unconditionally. With the support of Anu’s fiancé Sam (Gautam Kapoor) and a courageous lawyer Anjali (Shweta Kawaatre), Anu and Nigel resist all social and personal pressures to get Nikhil justice and social acceptance.

The appeal of this film stems from its performances by its lead actors. Sanjay Suri, playing Nikhil, gives an extraordinary performance. Nikhil’s transformation from an energetic, fun-loving, vibrant, young man to an embittered and persecuted HIV patient seeking the fundamental right to live with dignity and die with grace, is played by Sanjay with remarkable grace and empathy. The only ‘star’ of the film, Juhi Chawla’s performance as the loving, supportive sister, Anamika, should be ranked amongst the finest in her career. There is a quality of warmth and integrity in Juhi’s personality that matches Anu’s deep love for her brother and her defiance of parental and societal expectations to help her brother live with human dignity. Juhi radiates hope and compassion even in moments of great despair, bringing a sense of optimism to the whole film. Another actor who stands out is the relatively unknown Purab Kohli, playing Nikhil's best friend/lover, Nigel. Purab brings tremendous tenderness and sincerity into this difficult character, which could easily have lapsed into a stereotype.

Victor Banerjee and Lillete Dubey, both very fine actors, portray the anguish of loving parents who are unable to withstand the ignominy of humiliation in a conservative community where they were held in high regard prior to their son’s fall from grace. They endow a certain conviction to their roles as they convey the conflicts their character experience. Their love for their son is obvious, as is the fear of society and what ‘people say’ that often leads us to be cruel to those we love the most. The rest of the supporting cast is good. Cinematography is excellent as we are transported to the essence of Goa’s natural beauty and Portuguese heritage, far away from the tourist-infested resorts and beaches. Unobtrusive interplay of sunshine and moonlight, ebb and flow of the sea, mellow music, juxtaposition of past and present, happiness and grief, adds to the ambience. Onir’s entire team has pulled together to create an overpoweringly touching film, where the emphasis is on light, not darkness; hope, not despair.

The film’s highlights are a number of sensitive moments. While it is emotionally draining, it is not dark or depressing. There are no excesses of sentimentality -- even in moments of heart-rending tragedy - which effectively makes these situations even more poignant. One of the most moving scenes in the movie is when Nikhil's father meets him after two years, and overwhelmed with feelings, Nikhil reminds him of his promise to chase all nightmares away. "Papa, make this nightmare go away," he begs. Or when Nikhil asks Nigel why he has never questioned him about how he contracted AIDS and Nigel says, “What’s the point, I am not going to leave you, in any case”. Or when Nikhil breaks down in Anu’s arms at night after being diagnosed with AIDS – the anguish brother and sister share is heightened without being articulated. Or when Anu holds out her baby to Nikhil and he takes the infant in his arms fearfully, torn between joy and sorrow. My Brother... Nikhil is full of such delightfully warm moments that hold the audience captive till the very end. 

It is difficult not to compare this film to its predecessor, Revathy’s Phir Milenge (2004), [itself an adaptation of Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia (1993)], which tackled the ordeals of a heterosexual woman who is ostracized after contracting AIDS and fights for her legal and personal rights aided by a sympathetic lawyer. However, without taking anything away from both the earlier films, I would rather assess My Brother … Nikhil on its own merit. To me, this was far more of an emotionally compelling experience in its sensitive exploration of the victim's fears and frustrations, angers and anguishes, in tandem with the relationships that help him deal with the dreaded disease. As the film attacks a social structure that resorts to harsh discrimination and inhuman cruelties stemming from ignorance and prejudice, it emphasizes the importance of human bonds of love and friendship that can endure all kinds of trials and tribulations. There is no condemnation of Nikhil’s choices, no questioning of how he contracted AIDS, no analysis of homosexuality, there is just a tacit plea to society to accept ‘difference’ with empathy not intolerance. My Brother … Nikhil may not be appreciated by those who want to see purely entertaining and escapist films, but it is a sincere, warm, thought-provoking movie that raises awareness about the harsh realities of AIDS without being sermonizing and didactic, and should appeal to all lovers of good cinema.