Rating: 7.5/10 I wanted to love this movie, but in the end I only have mixed feelings. If it wasnt for the good intentions of it, the trailblazing nature of its normal-feeling depiction of a gay relationship, I would probably give it an even lower rating. I think part of it is that the movie does not seem emotional enough. Scenes such as Nikhil being thrown out of the house, or his homecoming, would have had a far greater impact on me if played up to typical Bollywood levels of emotion and background music. Instead, these scenes just happen.
Aside from being disappointed with the level of emotion sometimes, heres some other thoughts I have on the movie:
Sanjay Suri really is completely natural-feeling in the role of Nikhil, and Purab Kohli plays the loyal friend/lover to perfection. Victor Banerjee as the somewhat distant, pressurizing father, and Lilette Dubey as the mother, are fine.
Juhi Chawlas acting is also fine, but shes let down by the movie pretending to be a documentary about Nikhil, with the documentary focused a lot on interviewing her character and others among Nikhils family and friends... She has to keep repeating the same happy with a tinge of wistful sadness or wistfully sad with a tinge of nostalgically happy expression every time she talks straight to camera. She comes across much better in the scenes set in the past, when shes just playing a normal character, Anu, with a range of emotions -- interacting with her brother, her boyfriend/husband, her parents, and Nigel. Indeed, I wonder why they chose to have so much of the movie feature Juhi talking to camera... It doesnt add much to the story. The documentary style only adds to the movie when its interviewing side characters, who say revealing, phobic stuff like, I was never in Nikhils circle of friends (something like that) -- or when the father denies his son is gay (Who told you that? Why cast aspersions now that hes gone? or some similar comment). But thats a rare bonus of the post-death documentary style. They could probably have avoided the documentary thing completely and just gone for more linear storytelling.
There is a slow pace to the movie, which doesnt aid it at all. I like the song, and like how it is repeated on different occasions by different people to show different kinds of love.
The treatment of HIV/AIDS is a little disappointing. Its good to argue against social isolation of those with HIV or AIDS, and its sad to see Nikhils last days while Nigel and his family stand by him -- but thats as far as the movie goes. The movie fails to try to educate about how one becomes infected with HIV -- which I feel should have been one of its purposes -- to the extent that we dont even know how Nikhil got the disease. The movie also doesnt clearly distinguish between HIV and AIDS, which "Phir Milenge" did much better. Thus, the movie, to the extent that it is a message movie about AIDS, is mostly only preaching to the choir as we say in the US. The non-masala nature of the movie, and its slow pace, probably dont help in getting a message about AIDS out either.
The treatment of homosexuality, on the other hand, is great. Some closer physical contact (like at least a romantic hug) would have been nice, but Im not going to complain, as this is a first or second step. Ive read several reviews on mouthshut where people went away talking about Nigel, and how it gave them a new perspective on gay people. And oh yeah, boy did I like Nigel and Nikhils first meeting -- so cute.
Concerning character development, probably only Nikhil and, to a lesser extent, Anu, are fully developed characters. Everyone else has kind of only a role to play, and with the exception of Nigel has limited screentime. They dont feel fake, but we only see certain aspects of them. However, where Nikhil is concerned, the stuff involving swimming, the sea, feeling pressure to be a sportsman, being a champion, creativity, painting, music, his parents, Nigel, and Leena -- all works well. Nikhil may be the only really 3-D character in the movie, but he feels so very real that it doesnt matter hes the only one. I should mention liking the female lawyer too, though shes nowhere near as compelling as Shilpa Shetty in Phir Milenge in terms of being a crusader. Phir Milenge is also the movie I like better overall. Phir Milenges funny talking real fast scene alone gives it a leg up on MBN -- it just feels so normal in a good way. Arguably even the sibling relationship in Phir Milenge feels less tug at your heartstrings than MBNs sibling relationship.
Its ironic that I think MBN is not emotional enough, and too emotionally manipulative, all at the same time! Im not quite sure how that works. So, overall, mixed feelings.