POSITIVE

As my fellow contributor has officially taken up Gowda bashing; I thought lets write something for the occasion. Yup, its World AIDS Day today and I would like to review a short docu. I saw yesterday on NDTV. It was named Positive (directed by farhan akthar) and was screened at the ongoing IIFI,Goa. It’s the story of how a son initially distances himself from his father(played by the the great Boman irani) on knowing that he has contracted aids, but later realizes that he just cant leave his father in his last days. It’s a narration by the son himself and starts from his childhood; how he and his father enjoyed the good times and how he had held him in high respect… His father, a photographer would be having secret liaisons with a model he shoots for. This results in a daily squabble with his wife (played by the inimitable Shabana azmi). Boy grows up listening to his dear papa’s “ye toh sab kaam mein hota hain”. He later decides to move out for further studies. 2 years later his mom informs him about his papa’s aids condition. He rushes back to India and visits the hospital where his dad is admitted. He is unable to digest the fact that it his own papa lying on the bed in a pathetic condition. He rushes back home and decides never to go back again. He realizes that all the money is being spent on his dad’s treatment and that there isn’t any left for his next sem . This irritates him to the core. “Why should we suffer like this ma?”, he retorts when his mom asks him to look after his father. She replies” He is your dad after all. Running away from someone who committed a mistake is easy but not in this form.” How can you say this ma? Didn’t he cheat you?”,” I should have left him earlier to absolve myself of all this. But not now; when he needs us the most…” The silence which follows is of introspection… Next day when wheels out his dad in the hospital He asks for a camera; that’s when the son really blows his lid,” we sold everything for your treatment. You didn’t care about me nor amma.” And walks away leaving boman to shed silent tears…. (I loved this scene especially for the intense acting by these 2). The next day when he cools down he takes the camera and a tripod to the hospital and together they shoot some beautiful pictures and bond so well in the following days. This activity The movie ends with Shabana and her son holding Boman’s hand as writhes in bed while the doctors take him away…. It really made me to stop and think how people would react if they came to know that their near and dear ones contracted this deadly disease.. It would be a mixture of betrayal, anger, pain, pity… But it never changes facts; does it?. So knowledge about the disease, acceptance of facts and a forgiving nature might just help us in cheering them up and making their last journey a little less painful. Blaming leads us nowhere. So perhaps let us all cultivate a POSITIVE attitude towards the disease and its victims from this special day. All the four movies which premiered at IFFI including POSITIVE are being beamed on all national news channels today…