Karthik Calling Karthik:
Director Vijay Lalwani’s psychological thriller featured Frahan Akhtar as an introverted schizophrenia patient. Co-starring Deepika Padukone, the film managed Rs18 crore at the box office.
Some Bollywood psychological thrillers are not very popular but still they leave an impact on the audiences. Such films require extra hard work as compared to the regular films directed. The themes that they based on incluide reality, perception, mind, existence, identity and death. Such kinds of movies have more ambiguity and they feature tortured and extremely complex characters.
Here are some of the Bollywood movies that based on illness, rare diseases and disorders:
Dear Zindagi
The film brings another milestone in Bollywood cinema with almost the entire story being set within a psychiatrist’s sessions - breaking cliches of facing a mental illness. And the best part is that Kaira isn’t even depressed, she simply visits the therapist because she couldn’t sleep for three days. Towards the climax, Alia confronts her family and talks of all the fears she has been struggling with.
Barfi:
Blockbuster film 'Barfi' featured Priyanka Chopra as a young girl suffering from Autism. Autism affects about 1-2 people per 1,000. It is a disorder of neural development and is usually first noticed in children from the age of three. It is characterised by impaired social interaction, communication and restricted repetitive behaviour.
Devdas:
The movie 'Devdas' has Shah Rukh Khan depict a lovelorn, depressed and alcoholic man, who eventually dies of liver cirrhosis. Major depressive disorder (MDD) or clinical depression is sadly a mental disorder which isn’t taken very seriously. The condition leads the person to believe that life is not worth living. A constant sense of doom surrounds the people suffering from this condition. Clinically, this condition is usually diagnosed by the patient’s own experiences and mental ability tests.
Heroine:
The movie 'Heroine' had leading lady Kareena Kapoor suffering from bipolar disorder. Although this movie does not focus on her illness and more on how the illness caused the downfall of her career, it still helped in bringing the condition and its management to the forefront.
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder also called manic-depressive disorder is a mood disorder and people usually experience disruptive mood swings that range from a frenzied state known as mania to depression. These extreme mood swings are separated by a ‘normal phase’ as well. The prevalence of this condition is the same in men and women, and across all ethnic groups.
Koi Mil Gaya:
The movie revolved around a boy coping with mental retardation. Hrithik Roshan does justice to his role as a mentally challenged boy. So what is mental retardation? Mental retardation refers to a condition which appears before adulthood. The characteristic symptoms of the condition are significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviours.
My Name is Khan
In the movie ‘My Name is Khan’, Shah Rukh Khan was a man afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome. He received wide acclaim for his accurate portrayal of the character and is said to have done a lot of research on the topic. Asperger Syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger’s Syndrome or Asperger disorder, can be classified as an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This condition is characterised by significant difficulties in social interaction, restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests.
Tare Zameen Par:
The movie ‘Tare Zameen Par’ was a huge hit due to its tear jerking portrayal of a child battling dyslexia. The movie shows how Darsheel Safary, the protagonist of the movie, struggles with the ridicule he faces for behaving in a manner completely normal to him. Dyslexia , is also commonly known as developmental reading disorder (DRD). It occurs when there is a problem in the Wernicke’s area, the lobe of the brain that helps to interpret language. It is a specific information processing problem that does not make the person’s intelligence decrease in any way.
Tere Naam:
Actor Salman Khan did one of his most widely acclaimed roles in the movie ‘Tere Naam’. He essayed the role of a schizophrenic in the film. His interpretation of the condition was accurate, but not all schizophrenics have to be in an asylum! Schizophrenia is a condition that affects the patient by young adulthood and continues till old age, in almost all cases.
It is a mental disorder that is characterised by breakdown of thoughts and poor social responsiveness. People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders.
Black:
In the movie ‘Black’ Big B portrays a character suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Although the movie discussed the character in detail the condition was not the central theme of the movie. Nonetheless, Alzheimer’s got the much-needed limelight. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death.
