Mad tales from Bollywood: the impact of social, political, and economic climate on the portrayal of mental illness in Hindi films

Abstract

Hindi films since the 1950s appear to have been influenced by changing cultural norms which in turn affected the way mental illness is portrayed.

Bollywood as Witness: Changing Perceptions of Mental Illness in India (1913–2010)

“…The situation is even worse in India, where the majority of the population is illiterate and relies on mass media for information about mental illness. Our study supports the earlier work by Bhugra that prevailing social, political and cultural norms influence the depiction of mental illness in the media (Bhugra, 2005). Though movies are made primarily for entertainment, their educational role cannot be ignored.…”

The horrific laughter inPachadlela: A study of Marathi horror-comedy

“…To take the case of Hindi cinema as example, with the exception of a handful of films like Khamoshi/Silence (Sen, 1969), madness has generally been used to produce stereotyped villainous or comic caricatures. D. Bhugra (2005) rationalizes such stereotypes as ensuing from the social, economic and political conditions prevalent in India during the production of these films. Films like Sadma/ Trauma (Mahendra,1983), which depict a mad female protagonist, use the gendered cipher of the 'mad' female as a vehicle for legitimizing the objectification of the female body in addition to legitimizing dominant socialization paradigms as well as violative psychiatric methodologies in the guise of being 'sensitive' to the problem, as Jenny Rowena (2001: 11) suggests.…”

The epidemiology and characteristics of stalking

“…So far, all published studies were conducted in industrialized countries from Europe, North America or Australia. No data are available from developing countries with the exception of a study on the portrayal of mental illness in Hindi films revealing that the presentation of stalking and morbid jealousy is increasing [19].…”