India takes second crack at AIDS film

India's film industry is taking its second crack at addressing the growing HIV problem in the country with this weekend's release of My Brother Nikhil, a film about an HIV-positive swimmer, Agence France-Presse reports. The film stars Sanjay Suri as the swimmer and popular actress Juhi Chawla as his sister. Last year Bollywood released Phir Milenge (We Will Meet Again), the nation's first film about the domestic AIDS epidemic. That film, about an HIV-positive worker being discriminated against on the job, was a box office bomb and prompted protests by some religious groups. Many of Bollywood's top celebrities are backing the new film, saying such public-awareness efforts are needed to prevent the spread of the disease in the country that is already home to more than 5 million HIV-positive people. "My Brother Nikhil is about love and forgiving," film director Onirban, who goes by only one name, told Agence France-Presse. "The basic message of the film is about love, acceptance, and on the backdrop is HIV/AIDS."