The United Nations campaign to battle AIDS Friday hailed a new Indian film about a successful career woman who suddenly learns she is HIV-positive as a major contribution in the fight against the pandemic and the ignorance, fear, stigma and discrimination in the work place that surround it.
– When Bollywood, one of the worlds largest film industries with massive audiences, produces a film about AIDS, everyone has to sit up and take notice, the Executive Director of the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Peter Piot, said of Phir Milenge, directed by Revathy Menon, an award-winning actress turned director.
– It is extremely significant that Bollywood is joining the struggle against the epidemic and helping to break the silence that surrounds HIV and AIDS. We applaud the making of this film, he added.
The Bollywood industry is huge. Based in Mumbai, it produces some 800 films a year and on any given day 15 million Indians watch such movies. An estimated 5,1 million Indians are living with AIDS, the highest number in a single country outside South Africa.
– 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, Ms. Revathy said. – I think it is vital to both confront injustice and help people get access to treatment, added she.
The actor Salman Khan added: – It is up to all of us to challenge the stigma and I hope I have played my part by taking on the role of Rohit when some other actors were, perhaps, a little reluctant.
Kilde: FNs nyhedstjeneste
