The Hindu reviews Pesu Maname Pesu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/no-more-a-taboo-on-celluloid/article918724.ece

No More a Taboo on Celluloid
Gokulnath A., Sathyaraj Venkatesan

“Pesu Maname Pesu” is a one-hour Tamil Tele film by ‘Nalamdana’, a non-profit organisation based in Chennai. Produced on a low budget, the telefilm in two parts narrates the story of a young girl, Karpagam, who is forced to enter into a marriage with Kumaresan without her family insisting on an HIV test. A year later, when Karpagam undergoes clinical tests, the doctor finds that she is pregnant and also discloses that Kumaresan is HIV-positive. The film through its realistic portrayal of rural India emphasises the need for mandatory HIV/AIDS test before marriage to avert the possible spread of HIV/AIDS.

The success of such short/tele films again reinforces the need for such initiatives. With no permanent cure yet in sight and stigma still attached to the syndrome, such ventures will help to dispel discrimination against the PLWAs. As such, lLiterature and mass media, especially cinema and short/tele films, is an effective tool as Paul Reed argues “to alert people”, “to explore multi-facets of the epidemic” and “to educate” the general ‘unaffected’ population about HIV/AIDS.