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My Brother Nikhil Pictures and Movie Review

Director: Onir Cast: Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, Victor Banerjee, Lillete Dubey, Purab Kohli, Dipannita Sharma, Gautam Kapoor, Shweta Kwaatra, Peeya Rai Chowdhury and Shayan Munshi

Dialogue: Amitabh Varma
Art: Shamita Sarkar, Ambika Suri & Tina Nagpaul
Styling: Anita Dongre
Sound Design: Arun Nambiar
Editor: Onir
Cinematography: Arvind Kannabiran
Lyrics: Amitabh Varma
Music: Viveck Philip
Produced by: Sanjay Suri, Onir, Vicky Tejwani and Raj Kaushal

Set against the 1980’s when the bogey of AIDS was still larger-than-life and social acceptance – and understanding – was at its lowest, My Brother Nikhil is cause-oriented cinema at its sensitive best. Of course you can see shades of Philadelphia in it, but in the end the fine performances by Juhi, Sanjay and Purab and the clever interplay of fact and emotion by director Onir make this a truly heroic desi endeavour. The Indian cinegoer is gradually getting used to path-breaking concepts in Hindi films. In this fast-changing scenario, the new-age writers and directors are picking up stories that are realistic, identifiable, straight out of life...

Yes, the film also tackles homosexuality with dignity for the first time in Indian cinema. But the idyll is short-lived as the closed Goanese society discovers their hero is HIV positive. He is thrown out of the swimming team, he is thrown out by his parents, he is thrown out of his job and he is treated like a criminal by the state which locks him up in a sanatorium in solitary confinement. There seem to be only two people on his side: his sister Anu (Juhi) and his partner Nigel (Purab) who are willing to fight the long and tedious battle for dignity and equality with him. MY BROTHER NIKHIL is perhaps the first Indian film that throws light on the gay relationship without making a mockery of one's sexual preferences. The issue is handled with utmost sensitivity and looks at relationships from a broader perspective. Clearly, Hindi cinema is coming of age and issues such as HIV/AIDS and gay relationships are being discussed with the same freedom and openness as any other issue.

My Brother Nikhil tells you the story of a man who suddenly falls from grace and is socially ostracized. His parents, friends and colleagues turn their backs on him. Suddenly, his whole world collapses.

Another shot in the arm for the Indian Neo Wave, My Brother Nikhil has a lot to recommend. First, it tackles the trauma of AIDs without glossing over it – the isolation, renunciation and ostracisement of the HIV positive people is harsh, painful, totally beyond reason and against all humanism. And second, it creates a set of characters who not only grow before your eyes in a short span of two hours, they end up walking out with you as you leave the audi, shaken, stirred and moist-eyed.