Date:21/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/21/stories/2008082150070200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Pages from several lives

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: “68 pages” draws on real-life stories, letting them converge at one point: AIDS counsellor Mansi, who pens the stories into her diary.

The film, largely about sexuality minority groups and their experience with HIV/AIDS, is directed by Sridhar Rangayan, filmmaker and founder-trustee of Humsafar Trust in Mumbai.

Stopping in Bangalore as part of the tour, the movie was screened at the Alliance Francaise on Tuesday, facilitated by Sangama in Bangalore.

After some members of the communities sang and danced, the movie was played to a receptive audience, where information about HIV/AIDS was entertainingly packed into “68 pages”.

The movie in the “Sang Mere” tour has been to over 15 cities in the last two months, including Chicago and Washington DC, and has been screened at the Nigah Queer Fest in Delhi.

In a post-movie discussion, Mr. Rangayan said that while he used dramatic licence in some parts of the movie purely because of the medium, he mainly focussed on true instances.