RIFLE RANGE BOY

Inventing the AIDS Virus (1996) Authors: Peter H Duesberg and Bryan J Ellison With all the controversies surrounding Coronavirus, whether it is a man-made virus or a naturally occurring one, the debate is just proving to be so convoluted. On one side, the Americans are accusing the Chinese of sending a bio-weapon out to the world to screw up everybody's economy. On the other end, the Chinese are alleging the USA sent the genetically altered virus to China, but the virus has come back to bite them. The situation becomes murky as the rest of the world are taking the Chinese government to court as they concur that Chinese underplayed the seriousness of the disease when it hit them. Throwing a spanner in the work of discovering the origin of the virus is the suggestion that the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, could be a retrovirus, just the most famous retrovirus of all - HIV. For recollection, a retrovirus is a type of RNA virus that inserts a copy of its genome into the DNA of a ho...

Sometimes (Sila Samayanggil, Tamil, சில சமயங்கில்; 2018) Netflix We consider ourselves one step better than a stranger standing beside us. We gaze at them through our rose-tinted glasses when they are unaware and draw our own conclusions on their moral standards and codify them either 'good' or 'bad'. All these changes immediately the moment there is an imminent danger or a potentially life-consuming event in the near future. Imagine a group of passengers in a cruise who are stranded in a terrible storm, have lost all radio contacts and just waiting for time to sink if help does not arrive in time. In that scenario, everybody put their prejudices aside, treat each other as equal and try to face the common enemy. This is the scenario that the filmmakers are trying to create. Seven patients are waiting anxiously in a sparsely populated lobby for their HIV results. Each patient has their own story that brought them to get their blood tested - an ex-girlfriend dying...

Aruvi (Tamil அருவி; 2017) This is a compelling sociopolitical drama which must have surely been written by a card-carrying member of the socialist/communist party. Who else would paint such a bleak picture of modern life and the self-defeating trappings that line every aspect of our lives? Human values take a back seat. A pre-set path is made for us to follow and feel contended. Any deviation from the norm is frowned upon. The whole purpose of life is to promote consumerism, be awed by materialism and to fatten the multinational conglomerates. T his is an absorbing saga of a young girl, Aruvi, who acquired HIV most unconventionally - at the roadside coconut vendor as she savoured a probably contaminated freshly cut coconut! Long story short - she falls seriously ill, is diagnosed, hurled abuses of promiscuity and is chased away by the previously loving family. She wanders around, living with friends and working menial jobs. At every corner, the men in her life misbehaved. They d...

Asmaa (Egypt; 2011) Even though many armchair critics adamantly allege that the 2015 Tamil movie, 'Aruvi' was copied from this Egyptian movie, after watching it one can realise that it is all a fabricated lie. The only little thread of similarity between the two films is that AIDS and TV interviews form the backbone of the story. It is a realistic drama depicting the plight of an HIV-positive single mother. Because of the social stigma that is attached to the disease, she has to keep illness a secret, even from her daughter. The society is quick to judge the victim on their sexual behaviour and quickly determines that their affliction is their own doing. 'Asmaa' is based on a real event. Asmaa, an airport cleaner, is harassed by her employer for her medical report. After dodging it for quite a while, she has to cave. Her contract is terminated. Her finances dwindle. She has a daughter to educate and her medications to buy. In between all these, she has now to g...