ARTS SPECIAL

BOLLYWOOD BRINGS IT home

Sanjay, who catches the virus from an earlier casual encounter with a ‘loose’ girl, deserts his family once the truth is out as he

cannot face the shame; but in the end there is a reconciliation. (After several songs of sadness by the sea and a few public-style announcements on transmission and condom use.)
The reconciliation scene was not originally in the script. In fact, I had to argue strongly with the director, Rod Dungate, for the scene. Rod, a former heath worker colleague, worked closely with me on the storyline. He didn’t want this scene in it at all, but I insisted on the set that it had to be included because the community needs to see that it’s not the end of everything if you have HIV.
The film is a tear-jerker and ends on a high moralistic note. The message, simply: ‘You can’t be ashamed of an infection.’ It needed to be something that the family felt they could watch together.”
(Of course one of the most vital ingredients in Ek Pal is the traditional music and songs. Without this, the story doesn’t hold such evocation either.)
How did it feel being an Asian woman making this kind of film?
“Unfortunately, even in the UK’s south Asian community, women are seen as promiscuous if they are at the forefront of the kind of work I do. Often, I’ve been asked why a respectable woman like myself - married with six children - should do this kind of unpleasant work. “Does your mother know? Does your husband know?” I get asked all the time.
It was, therefore, almost impossible at first to persuade people to back my idea

of making a dramatic film about HIV. Practically all the leaders in Birmingham’s south Asian community are men so I have grown used to working with this challenge. Bollywood is an industry dominated by men too. I was determined to do it though. And women are starting to come forward and say they approve of the film.
But the Muslim leaders need to endorse their women much more. I hope I have helped a bit to make sexual health work respectable for us.

My battle was also with the local PCTs and health authorities too. They seemed to have a total lack of understanding of Asian society and gender differences.”