Revathi’s Phir Milenge (2004) dealt with the subject of AIDS; her latest directorial Salaam Venky is again a medical / illness slice-of-life drama centered around a true story of Kolavennu Venkatesh, a 24-year-old chess player, dealing with the subject of a person suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (Dmd) and euthanasia. Bollywood has seen a story on the subject of euthanasia not so long ago in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Guzaarish (2010). Salaam Venky may be telling a sad story, but it picks up hints from the evergreen Rajesh Khanna-Amitabh Bachchan starrer Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand (1971), “Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin” (roughly meaning life should be lived to the fullest); where the patient is aware of his illness but takes it in his stride and stays cheerful. On similar lines, the protagonist Venky picks up lines and references from popular films’ characters and tries to keep everyone cheerful.