ALONG WITH HICHKI, HERE ARE 5 BOLLYWOOD MOVIES THAT TALK ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER

In India, mental health is a stigma. It is no less than a shame to talk about your mental health or to deal with it. In India, cinema plays an important role in influencing the masses’ mindsets. Indian Cinema plays a crucial role in disseminating information regarding lesser known subjects or to put light on social issues. In similar fashion, there are 5 Bollywood movies that not just talk about mental illness, but also about neurological disorders.

Hichki

The film is an adaptation of Hollywood film Front of the Class (2008), which itself was based on the book, Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had by Brad Cohen. The film stars Rani Mukerji in the lead role of a teacher having Tourette syndrome. Tourette syndrome is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood. These tics can be suppressed temporarily, and are typically preceded by an unwanted urge or sensation in the affected muscles. Some common tics are eye blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. The movie is slated to release on 23^rd March.

Bhool Bhulaiya

The movie stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, and Shiney Ahuja in lead roles. Vidya Balan plays the role of Avni who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder which she started to develop in her childhood. Dissociative Identity Disorder is a mental disorder wherein a person assumes, and acts upon, two or more differing identities, often blurring their real identity. When the individual acts upon their unreal, assumed identity, they forget about their real identity, and when they come back to their real identity, they forget everything about their alternate identity.

Ghajini

The movie stars Aamir Khan and Asin in the lead roles. Aamir Khan plays the character of Sanjay Singhania who suffers from Anterograde Amnesia. This is an inability to form new memories after the event that caused amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past.

Taare Zameen Par

This is one landmark movie that represents mental illness. The movie stars Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary in the main lead. Darsheel plays the role of Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi, suffering from Dyslexia. Dyslexia is technically a learning disorder and not a mental illness. However, due to the mechanics of the condition, many consider it a mental illness as it does not fit the status quo for normal brain interpretation.

Karthik Calling Karthik

The movie stars Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. Farhan Akhtar plays the role of Karthik who suffers from a mixture of schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Karthik is shown to have a dominating alter ego that asserts and advises him on how to live.

Now the movie Hichki is on the board to teach us more about how mental illness is not just about depression or anxiety and how it has various branches. The movie talks about the neuropsychiatric disorder.