|
Josie Phizacklea is a
4th Year Medical Student at Cardiff University
Larger than life
For Cardiff University Psychiatry Society’s
first event, Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President of the Royal
College of Psychiatrists, spent an evening exploring the portrayal
of mental illness in Bollywood through the decades. After enjoying
a buffet of Indian food, 60 students and trainees settled down to
enjoy a fascinating insight into another culture's perception of
psychiatry.
Professor Bhugra began by emphasising
the role cinema plays in the understanding of any culture, with
social themes influencing film and film, in turn, influencing
society’s thinking.
As the world’s largest producer of
films, Bollywood is an important window to a global perspective of
mental health and has a powerful role in shaping the views of a
vast audience. Bollywood movies are unique in being very
fantastical, colourful affairs, with larger than life sets and
often unrealistic storylines. Ubiquitous across India, from small,
shared TVs to glossy multiplexes, they are a huge part of the lives
of ordinary Indians, often providing sanctuary from the trials and
tribulations of everyday life in a developing country. Bollywood
movies often do not reflect reality but are vital, instilling hope
and giving something towards which to aspire.
Clichéd
boxes
The Wellcome Trust has funded Professor
Bhugra to study more than 50 films that include a protagonist with
mental illness. This enabled him to examine the evolving
attitudes towards psychiatric illness in Indian culture during
periods of massive political, social and economic changes.
Professor Bhugra points
out that the three main periods in Hindi cinema were each
defined by turning points in the social norms. The films of the
1960s were influenced by the idealism of a newly independent
republic, and reflected this confidence in a period of
‘Romanticism’, where a mood of optimism was coupled with a gentle
representation of the mentally ill.
Film clips illustrating this included
Khamoshi (The Silence, 1969) which describes the
story of a young nurse who migrates to the West and saves a
psychiatric patient from misery by falling in love with him.
Working alongside her was a caricature Freudian psychiatrist,
sporting a fine beard, who ticked all the clichéd boxes you could
hope for.
However, “growth of government
corruption and an unstable political climate” during the 1980s led
to a national feeling of discontent and spawned the period
of ‘Villainy’ in the Hindi film industry, resulting in a plethora
of ominous psychopaths appearing on Bollywood screens.
A ‘New Romanticism’ appeared with the
economic liberalisation of the 1990s. Professor Bhugra described
how, "women were seen as possessions in both society and the
cinema, and the portrayals of stalking and morbid jealousy
increased”. This point was illustrated by characters demonstrating
signs of paranoia in clips of this era.
Inspired
It was a privilege for the students and
trainees who attended to be guided so thoughtfully through the
captivating periods of India’s history in relation to mental
health; we are enormously grateful to both Professor Bhugra and all
those who organised the event.
It was fascinating to learn how the
societal and political climate in India effected change in
Bollywood Cinema and to consider how the portrayal of psychiatric
patients reflects society’s treatment of the mentally ill at the
time. An understanding of these cultural themes will help us to
appreciate the perspective of patients we encounter as medical
students and foundation trainees. Many of us left the event with a
refreshed enthusiasm for pursuing our interest in the
speciality.
|