The positive side of ‘My Brother Nikhil’ : Bollywood News : ApunKaChoice.Com


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The positive side of ‘My Brother Nikhil’
26th Mar 2005 00.30 IST
By Nitika Desai

‘My Brother Nikhil’ tells a touching humane story quite realistically and without any eye-candy interludes of soppy escapades. The movie also teaches you to be positive in life.

Starring Sanjay Suri , Juhi Chawla , Victor Banerjee, Lillete Dubey and Purab Kohli, ‘ My Brother Nikhil ’ marks the directorial debut of Onir. The film paints the life sketch of a man’s descent into the social death that precedes the actual physical death for people infected with HIV virus.

The story of the movie’s protagonist Nikhil is told through the recounts of various characters – his sister (Juhi), father (Mr Banerjee), mother (Dubey) and his gay partner Nigel (Purab).

The movie is set in Goa of late 1980s. Nikhil (Sanjay Suri) is a state swimming champion groomed by his sporting father Navin and doting mother Anita. He shares a rather friendly relation with his elder sister Anamika (Juhi).

Before Nikhil can have his own tryst with life and find his own place in society, it abandons him after he is tested HIV positive. He is sacked from his work, ignored by his girlfriend and shunned by his own parents.

He is incarcerated into a gloomy confinement that was meant to be a TB sanatorium. Life becomes nothing but the wait for death for this young man, ostracized by society and his dear ones.

But don’t forget! Nikhil is a champ and he won’t go down without clinching his last win. And in this fight, he gets the support of his sister Anamika, his gay partner Nigel (Purab) and lawyer (Shweta Kwaatra).

Sanjay Suri springs up from his mere eye-filling performances in previous films to the level of a very promising actor with his impressive portrayal of Nikhil in this film. He captures the transformation of his character deftly enough and brings a subtle intensity into his acting in the latter half of the movie.

Juhi Chawla’s acting is very natural. The emotional warmth that she exudes in real life shows on the screen too.

‘My Brother Nikhil’ is certainly a commendable directorial debut by Onir. It begins on an unassuming note but soon acquires a serious tone without making the proceeding grave or ‘artistically boring’. It educates and, above all, it stirs you emotionally, almost making you empathize with the main character, his helplessness and his spirit to fight for what is rightfully his.