As 'Hickhi' approaches, a look at how Hindi cinema has dealt with mental health issues

A top psychiatrist Soumitra Pathare weighs in, as Bollywood tries for a new normal

A still from the upcoming Hickhi.

In the trailer of her new film, Hichki , Rani Mukerji’s character Naina speaks with a phonic tic. It annoys everyone around her, and for her prospective employer, a school, it is a virtual deal-breaker at the job interview. Naina tells the interview panel that she suffers from Tourette Syndrome, a neuropsychiatric disorder. In her case, Tourette’s manifests as hiccups; frequently and loud, and embarrassing for her and also the people around her, including her students.

So how does a teacher teach if she is afflicted almost 24 hours of a day with such a disorder? The movie, which releases next month, will deal with this question, and also with how people with neuropsychiatric disorders are accepted.

Over the years, India’s Hindi film industry has dealt with several characters that are out of the “ordinary”: people with mental health issues, genetic disorders, chronic neurological illnesses. Sadly, though, not all the portrayals have been realistic. Critics point out that the depiction of people with mental health problems as ‘insane’ is so entrenched that it has almost become impossible for filmmakers to change the approach.

Stuttering behind

Pune-based psychiatrist Soumitra Pathare, director of The Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy and one of the authors of the recently passed Mental Healthcare Act, says the Hindi film industry is “probably three to four decades behind Hollywood” when it comes to scripts dealing with mental health.

Among the most critically-acclaimed Hindi movies of this genre was

Khilona , a 1970 Sanjeev Kumar-starrer. But Dr. Pathare points out that

Khilona is a bad example, a lesson in how such moves should not be made

 

In recent times, there has been a greater degree of sensitivity. “I would say Black and Dear Zindagi are films that did a good job,” says Pathare. In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black, Rani Mukerji plays a woman with a visual and hearing impairment and Amitabh Bachchan plays her ageing mentor with Alzheimer’s. Dear Zindagi, which features Alia Bhatt as a young woman coming to terms with depression and anxiety, is possibly one of the few Hindi films to show people with mental illness as “normal”. “There is a sense that bad is equivalent to mad,” says Dr. Pathare, “for example, Hannibal Lecter’s character in Silence of the Lambs .” Filmmakers, he says, are squarely to blame for this.

Refreshingly, Dear Zindagi deals realistically with a young woman’s desires, her sexuality, her ability to deal with a dysfunctional family that, ironically, calls her dysfunctional. She is not a caricature; she is a human being. She is clinically depressed and always anxious, which leads her to remain non-committal in romantic relationships.

But one Dear Zindagi cannot normalise mental illness in a sea of characters who are shown to be “insane” or “ paagal ”. “We have to do it repeatedly,” says Dr Pathare. “There is no option but to normalise mental illness in popular culture.”

Drop in the ocean

To be sure, Tourette Syndrome, is not strictly a mental health issue. In fact, its prevalence among adults is minimal, according to global studies. Its exact cause is unknown, and it is believed to be a result of both genetic and environmental factors.

A still from Dear Zindagi.

 

According to the Handbook of Clinical Neurology , “Tic disorders, including Tourette syndrome, are an intriguing group of paroxysmal movement abnormalities that begin in childhood, have a fluctuating course, are capable of causing psychosocial and physical problems, and often improve by early adulthood.”

Therefore, it would seem, Rani’s character in Hichki would face greater social stigma than physical discomfort. And it is this stigma — the lack of acceptance, the constant negative attention — that could lead to psychological problems. It remains to be seen how the film deals with it.

In contrast, Hollywood’s A-list studios have consistently depicted mental health in a sensitive and realistic manner. The groundbreaking animation movie Inside Out, produced by Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures, was filmed after several rounds of consultation with psychologists and psychiatrists. Dr. Pathare says he is not aware of many Hindi filmmakers approaching a mental health professional to look at their scripts. “Even when they do, they don’t take our advice.” However, he and his team did advise a radio channel about a show based on mental health issues and emotional problems, with an in-studio clinical psychologist responding to queries.

Girls uninterrupted

Another landmark film, based on a book written by a survivor of severe mental illness, was Girl, Interrupted , starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. Angelina, who portrayed a sociopath admitted into a mental institution, went on to win the trifecta of Hollywood’s elite awards — Best Supporting Actress statuettes at the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild.

Sociopaths are somehow differently portrayed in Hindi movies. The mental health professional dealing with Alia’s problems in Dear Zindagi is, ironically, played by Shah Rukh Khan, an actor who built his stardom with characters that put sociopathy, stalking and even murder on a pedestal in movies such as Baazigar , Darr , and Anjaam . All these movies made crores at the box-office, and made Khan the undisputed No. 1 in the pantheon of Hindi film superstars.

Not surprisingly, madness, anger, and homicide became characterisations of people troubled by mental illness in Hindi movies. Yet, the winds of change are blowing. Young, more aware writers and filmmakers are certainly taking a reality check, writing a new normal. .