While thinking of Indian Cinema, we often visualize something that appears dramatic, very startling, fascinating, emotive and impactful. Indian cinema is just so full of colors, drama, emotions and action. But if we try to wipe away this image of our cinema as overly dramatic and commercial, we will realize that actually there is lot more to the Indian Cinema than just the drama, glamour and glitz that often go associated to it. Indian cinema is in fact the most varied and dynamic type of cinema. We have films like sholay to films like Udaan. Such drastic variation in genre of films is hardly evident in any other cinema than bollywood.
When it comes to spreading awareness regarding a certain issue, Indian cinema is again above all others! Be it health issues, social issues, environmental issues or the general ones, Indian cinema is always informing, influencing and inspiring people. Some of the mental illnesses are truly well portrayed by some of the bollywood films. These films have worked wonders in spreading awareness among people, regarding various mental illnesses that were yet unexplored.
Let us have a look over the three brilliant works of art!
1. Taare Zameen Par: (Dyslexia)
Falling short of words while writing about this film will be no wonder! Nothing can better describe the movie’s worthiness than the fact that the film was rewarded with tax relaxation by the government itself after it’s release. Probably the government also felt that the way the movie was sensitizing people towards the critical disease ‘dyslexia’ is beyond mere appreciation, and that it deserved much more!
The movie was about an 8 year old child who is dyslexic. Dyslexia is a condition in which a person encounters difficulty in interpreting language. This condition, in no way decreases a person’s ability to understand, grasp and solve even the most complex problems. People suffering from this disease are often misunderstood and misinterpreted by people. This condition is also often misinterpreted as visual impairment since people suffering from this disease tend to see and write poorly. The movie has brilliantly portrayed the minutest of details of this mental condition. The way Ishan(protagonist of the movie) fumbles while turning to page 8 para 4 line 3, or the way he writes an inverted ‘P’ every time, or the way he fails to catch a ball thrown at him from a distance, all of this displays the minor everyday struggles of a dyslexic child. Taare zameen par not only spread awareness regarding this mental condition, but also sensitized people towards this disease, to a large extent. It’s some of the causes and symptoms are..
Causes:
There is nothing in particular that can cause this disease. It has been researched and found that genetics play a major role in occurence of this disease. People who are dyslexic tends to produce children who are more prone to dyslexia than others.
Symptoms
Pronunciation problems
Difficulty while reading rhyming words
Problem in understanding the basics such as numbers, colors, alphabets, shapes etc.
Impaired fine motor skills.
Trouble following multi-directions or multi-instructions
poor handwriting
2. Black: (Alzheimer)
The movie ‘black’ might have black and white sets, black and white costumes, black and white lightings, but what it does not have in black and white is the drama, the storyline and the theme of the movie because all these were so much colorful and so much substantial. The one interesting aspect of the movie is the disease which Mr. Amitabh Bachhan suffers from, i.e Alzheimer. Although the story revolves around michelle, a girl who is deaf, dumb and blind, but a parallel story of his teacher being an Alzheimer patient also runs along when the movie is near end. Alzheimer is a disease which is usually characterized by impaired memory in it’s early stages. It normally starts in 40s and 50s, however it keeps progressing with the age, finally leading to complete helplessness and then may be death.
Causes
It occurs due to dying cells of the brain
The total brain size shrinks gradually with time.
Plaques and tangles occur in the brain.
The factors that contribute towards occurrence of the disease are unknown.
Symptoms
Memory loss (both long term and short term).
Difficulty in solving problems.
Confusion with time or place.
Trouble in understanding visuals and images
New problems with words in speaking and writing
3. Barfi:(Autism)
Priyanka Chopra, the autistic girl in the movie deserves no less appreciation than the main protagonist of the movie ‘Ranbir Kapoor’. Her portrayal of an autistic girl is tremendously applaudable. The way she stands while folding her skirt up, the way she looks at someone with a shaking head and the way she tries to utter a word but barely succeeds, accurately portrays the basic behavior of an autistic patient. Autism is often confused with Dyslexia. But in reality, the two diseases are very much distinguishable. Some of it’s causes and symptoms are..
Causes
Autism is again a disease whose occurrence is contributed by genetic factors. However some environmental factors may also increase the vulnerability of acquiring this syndrome.
Symptoms
Difficulty while communicating verbally
Difficulty in maintaining non-verbal communication with people( gestures, facial expressions etc)
Repetitive body movements and behavioral patterns.
Unusual way of dealing with stuffs such as toys, food etc.
Difficulty in social interaction
The above mental conditions were hardly ever familiar to the common mass, before these movies made them familiar to the them. Such fine, well portrayed and well researched representation of such complex and unexplored diseases/syndromes tends to inform, aware, influence and inspire people in more than one way. Hope such films never fall short of admirers and keep being produced.
