In a diverse nation like India, the citizens care and focus on many issues, and leave no stone unturned to solve them. But the one topic that always goes unnoticed is mental health. We all have studied about mental health but how many times we talk about it our closed ones. But thanks to the modern days, mental health is finally coming to light and people have started talking about it. However, the Bollywood industry is making sure that this topic doesn’t get brushed off the carpet. The industry has nurtured numerous movies that not just talk about mental health but also show what a person can do to help a person going through mental issues including anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorders, and PTSD. Here is the list of top 10 Bollywood movies that talk about mental health:
1. Dear Zindagi: There is no denying that this movie motivated many to take professional help in mental disorders and come clean to their parents. The lead role played by Ali Bhatt goes through anxiety attacks and insomnia. During her tough time, she came across a psychiatrist that helps her get over it.
2. Kartik Calling Kartik: The movie sheds light on the serious issue of identity disorder and schizophrenia that Farhan Akhtar’s character is fighting to. Kartik is an introverted guy who continuously blames himself for the death of his brother and then finally he decides to battle it down by seeing a therapist.
3. Tamasha: The gem of the untapped genre, Tamasha shows how the life of a person changes upside down when is suffers from a borderline personality disorder. Ved is trying to discover his true personality and his girlfriend Tara tried to help him in discovering himself.
4. Taare Zameen Par: In childhood, we all get beaten up by our parents for not doing well in our studies but no one asks us why we are not able to do it. But the 2007’s blockbuster Taare Zameen Par, seeded a question in our brain that there have been chances that the kid has been going through some mental disorder that’s why he is not able to do well in studies. The subject was approached in a very balanced yet realistic manner, in which we got to witness the reality of mental pressure and bullying that people with dyslexia have to endure.
5. Black: Bollywood has often used ageism and memory issues as a laughing matter, but Black was groundbreaking. The movie put a disability and Alzheimer’s, a mental illness related to old age, on the big screen. While the movie was an emotional telling of the struggles faced in both situations, it made the audiences more sensitive to the individuals who faced these issues as well.
6. Chicchhore: There is a reason why this Sushant Singh Rajput starrer Chhichhore made such a precious place in the heart of the audience. The critically acclaimed movie talks about exam anxiety, peer pressure, and suicide. Apart from motivating us to fight all these, it gives us a push to talk to our parents about it.
7. Judgemental Hai Kya: The Kangana Ranaut-starrer was about a woman who had deep-seated traumas about her father being abusive to her mother, so much so that she started believing that all men are beasts. It portrayed her as someone who would hallucinate often as her trauma caused her to become schizophrenic. The title itself is a play on “mental hai kya?”, a phrase people often use to describe people who have mental illnesses or disorders.
8. Anjanna Anjanni: Both the lead character of the movie have anxiety and suicidal tendencies. While Ranbir’s character gets acute stress disorder after he gets bankrupt, the character of Priyanka Chopra gets cheated by her fiancée and falls in depression.
9. Heroine: Kareena Kapoor’s character in Heroine has bipolar disorder which stemmed from childhood trauma but is branded as ‘damaged’ and ‘unstable’ because she is an actress. Her mental health issues and manic depression also lead to her downfall in her career.
10. My Name is Khan: In the movie ‘My Name is Khan’ Shah Rukh Khan played 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’s Syndrome can be classified as an Autism Spectrum Disorder. This condition is characterized by significant difficulties in social interactions.
