Juhi Chawla

Even as actress-turned-director Revathy’s take on AIDS, Phir Milenge, starring Salman Khan, is hogging the limelight, Jadavpur University alumnus Anirban has landed in Goa to do a film on a related subject.

My Brother Nikhil is about a swimming champion from the coastal state and how his family disintegrates after he is detected HIV-positive. A lot of research has gone into the story, set in 1986-93. “In those days the laws in India were terrible. A patient could be forcefully segregated from society. This boy, in fact, was arrested in 1989. Even after he was freed in 1990, he would need permission to go out of the house,” explains the Bengali director, who skipped his comparative literature final exams to pursue film-making.

The AIDS victim is being played by Sanjay Suri, who has been training hard to look the role. “I have been swimming a lot and have cropped my hair like swimmers do,” states the actor. Though he is a practised swimmer — “I used to swim in the lake during my childhood in Srinagar” — the prospect of swimming in the sea, and that, too, in the monsoon is a concern.

But his biggest challenge will be in the advanced stages of affliction. About 80 per cent of the film will be shot in the first schedule where he is a jovial, fun-loving person. “Then there will be a 25-day break during which I will have to shed some six-seven kg,” says Suri, refusing to disclose his diet chart.

The script has struck a chord with all members of the cast. “Usually such diseases do not bother people until it happens to someone they know. But this is such a sensitive story and so humanely told that you feel for the characters,” says Juhi Chawla-Mehta after the first day of shooting in north Goa. Juhi plays the sister, who stands by her brother when he gets AIDS. “It is a mainstream film with thought-provoking content,” Suri adds.

Lillete Dubey, who plays Nikhil’s mother, sounds a note of caution about labelling the film. “Thank God that issues which earlier would be swept under the carpet are being addressed now. But we are in the business of entertainment. So all social issues — AIDS, adultery or political revenge — have to be used delicately so that the film does not become a message vehicle and turn the audiences away from the halls.” No wonder Anirban insists: “My film is not issue-based. AIDS is just the backdrop.”

The film, incidentally, has another Calcutta connection: Victor Banerjee is Nikhil’s father.