Revathy

Shillong, April 21: Bollywood hunk Salman Khan had bailed out actor-turned-director Revathy when she was desperately looking for a male lead for her Phir Milenge. Because most of the leading men had turned her down, considering the sensitive subject of the film.

Today, the cast of the film, along with that of another critically acclaimed movie, My Brother Nikhil, joined former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah to pledge their support to the endeavours of the Assam Rifles Wives Welfare Association to raise the level of awareness among the people of the Northeast on the sensitive subject of HIV/AIDS. The pledges came spontaneously during a talk show with Abdullah, a clutch of Bollywood actors and directors and an HIV infected person. The show was organised by the association as part of the three-day film festival on HIV/AIDS, which begins tomorrow.

Several films on AIDS and human trafficking, such as My Brother Nikhil, Phir Milenge, Anant, A Closer Walk, Children For Sale, Trading Women, The Day My God Died, Remote Sensing, Beyond Darkness-New Dimensions, Angels in America, We Shall Overcome and Philadelphia, will be screened at the film festival.

While producer/actor of My Brother Nikhil, Sanjay Suri, urged students to openly talk about AIDS and remove the social stigma attached to it, Shilpa Shetty, who acted as AIDS patient in Phir Milenge, said her visit to the Northeast was ?to show solidarity,? with AIDS victims. ?I will be part of more campaigns to spread awareness about AIDS in the Northeast,? Shetty said.

Other film personalities like Onir, director of My Brother Nikhil, actor and TV anchor Purab Kohli and actor Deepti Naval, too, did not see any reason why actors could not create a difference in the region.

But for most of those who gathered, especially students, at the Directorate General of Assam Rifles headquarters conference room, it was Abdullah who broke the taboo on the subject, with pointed reference to the sexual aspect of the disease.

?The taboos are created by us, our religion and it is funny why we should not talk about a disease. In the Northeast, the issue needs wider participation and I will extend all my support,? Abdullah said, while announcing a grant of Rs 5 lakh from his MP?s fund to the association.

Abdullah was highly critical of the religious institutions for holding extreme conservative views in regard to sexuality, which, in turn, had added to the prevailing ignorance on HIV/AIDS.

A girl student of Shillong, who participated in the talk show, suggested the use of local languages in the Northeast to spread awareness, as she felt that this would be most effective. Her suggestions were well taken by the Bollywood stars as well as the Director-General of Assam Rifles Bhopinder Singh and the association?s president Winnie Singh.