A two-and-a-half-hour-long Tamil movie is an entertainment staple for many in the State.
At the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), it now forms part of the therapy offered to patients. Many of them have now started regularly watching Tamil flicks.
Movies have been on the to-do list for IMH for quite some time now. On an earlier occasion, a group of patients was taken to a theatre for Baahubali 2: The Conclusion .
The institute had earlier started screening movies for women patients at the Industrial Therapy Centre on campus. Recently, the recreational initiative was extended to male patients as well, and has become routine, say doctors and social welfare officers at IMH.
“We are screening a Tamil movie once a month using a projector. This is a form of recreation for them and also forms a part of therapy,” P. Poorna Chandrika, director of IMH, said.
Doctors select movies
Doctors choose the movies that are screened for the patients. “We avoid content with a lot of violence, and also ensure that the film has permission to be screened. Screening such movies gives patients a chance to know the latest actors, and this becomes a means for communicating with each other. Hence, it forms a major part of therapy too,” she added.
The atmosphere changes when a movie is screened. Patients look forward to watching a movie and they enjoy it, doctors said. “Instead of movies that have a lot of violence, we select movies that have comedy. In fact, we have been screening movies of actor Sivakarthikeyan for the women patients due to the comic element,” a social welfare officer said.
