Dylan Mohan Gray’s Fire in the Blood is a documentary on a burning issue that perhaps none of us truly paid attention to. But when we first hear of it in the context of this film, it won’t particularly surprise us too much either. I mean, we all know that multi-billion corporations will do what it takes to multiply those billions. Yet, as we watch the film gradually unfold, we realize the sheer magnitude of the problem, and it is shocking.

We’ve all been exposed to the blood-curdling visuals and statistics of how diseases like AIDS have ravaged so much of Africa and the rest of the developing world. The film talks about how large pharmaceutical companies in the West work solely driven by their bottom line; how providing low cost drugs to those who are in dire need isn’t a concern for them at all.

What becomes both the weakness as well as the strength of Fire in the Blood is the fact that there is almost no technical or creative accomplishment in the film. The visuals are plain, the narrative is driven by interviews, and the music score is bland at best. Instinctively, you’d think that an issue like this, had it been backed by haunting imagery and an interesting narrative style, would have truly been memorable.

Still, complete credit to Gray for not going down that route, and choosing to stick to his bare minimum narrative that focuses on the issue alone, and nothing else. It also tells us just how impactful the issue really is. It doesn’t need any further embellishment to create an impact. It also really makes us question where humanity is headed; why and on what grounds do we value one life more than the other, and what will it take for the corporate machinery to realize that some things are more important than profit.

For its complete honesty and adherence to only the issue that it chooses to talk about and nothing else, Fire in the Blood is a film as well as a movement that must be supported. Only when the entire world begins to ask tough questions of those who deserve it, will wheels of change begin to churn.

This review is by guest reviewer Pradeep Menon. Pradeep is a filmmaker and a dreamer. He loves books, rain, winters, tea and his parents. Cinema, however, is the only truth he believes in. He breathes and bleeds film, mostly in hues of saffron, white, green and blue. You can watch his short films at www.youtube.com/cyberpradeep.