I generally appreciate short films, as they are much more matter-of-fact and go straight to the point. By default, such films don't have to be entertaining or even interesting, they have to make sense and the main idea has to be well conveyed, and whether they are successful or not depends on the level of impact they do. I think Farhan Akhtar's 'Positive' is a novel idea, and it manages to tell the story of a lifetime through a twenty-minute episode convincingly. The emotional impact may not be particularly powerful (naturally so), but the film is still very touching. This is the story of Mrs. Soni, whose long unfaithful husband is dying, being in the last stages of AIDS. Mrs. Soni does not bear any grudge against her husband for his infidelity, but her young son, Abhijit -- does. She tries to convince him to visit his father on his deathbed. The film's main purpose is to spread AIDS awareness, and it succeeds mainly because it is pretty moving, and we see how families get destroyed because of that. Shabana Azmi owns this episode with her excellent acting. She brings credible depth to a role of very minimal length so skillfully that you really feel you watched an ordinary, full-fledged film. Boman Irani is very fine in a role that requires more facial expressions than line delivery at the more intense scenes. Arjun Mathur is OK. This was an impressive, effective and pretty awakening piece.
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