BOMBAY, Aug 20 (AFP) - India's Bollywood, known for its popcorn fare of romance and thrillers, has won rare praise from the United Nations for choosing for the first time to focus on HIV/AIDS in a mainstream film.
The film "Phir Milenge" (We will meet again), directed by award-winning actress Revathy Menon, revolves around a successful career woman, Tamanna, who suddenly learns she is HIV-positive.
The film then goes on to tackle the ignorance, fear, stigma and workplace discrimination faced by those living with HIV-AIDS.
"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," Peter Piot, executive director of the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said in a statement released in Bombay.
"It is extremely significant that Bollywood is joining the struggle against the epidemic and helping to break the silence that surrounds HIV and AIDS," he added.
Piot said the film rightly chose a woman as a central character.
"Women are most affected by HIV and the fact that the story revolves around Tamanna, a woman, who fights stigma and injustice is exciting," he said.
Actor Salman Khan plays a man who unknown to him is HIV-positive. He meets his childhood crush (Shetty) at a school reunion and the two fall in love. He unwittingly infects her with the virus.
As a result of her diagnosis becoming public knowledge, Tamanna loses her job and has to fight this injustice through the courts. In the process she meets lawyer Tarun (Abhishek Bachchan), who takes on her case.
"People are dying or getting infected every minute of every day and I hope this film will highlight what we are up against in India today," filmmaker Menon said.
An estimated 5.1 million Indians are living with HIV/AIDS, the highest number outside South Africa. The disease is spreading rapidly from urban to rural areas and from high-risk groups to the general population, health workers say.
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