UNAIDS Will Enter First Indian Film on HIV/AIDS in 2005 Cannes Film Festival

"Phir Milenge," the Indian film industry's first film primarily focusing on HIV/AIDS, will be entered at the Cannes Film Festival by UNAIDS, makers of the film announced on Tuesday, Asian News International/webindia123.com reports (Asian News International/webindia123.com, 9/14). The film, which was directed by Revathy Menon and stars Indian actors Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty, tells the story of Tamanna, a female advertising executive who is fired after her employer discovers she is HIV-positive. Tamanna then files and eventually wins a discrimination lawsuit against her employer. The film examines the stigma, discrimination and ignorance associated with HIV/AIDS in the workplace, as well as how people can address HIV discrimination through the country's courts. The Bollywood film industry, which is based in Mumbai, India, produces 800 films a year and an estimated 15 million people watch the films each day. "When Bollywood, one of the world's largest film industries with massive audiences, produces a film about AIDS, everyone has to sit up and take notice," UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said, adding, "It is extremely significant that Bollywood is joining the struggle against the epidemic and helping to break the silence that surrounds HIV and AIDS" (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/24). The team that created the movie has donated money for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients throughout the country (ApunKaChoice, 9/13).