The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Mentally ill `need to be sensitively portrayed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Mentally ill `need to be sensitively portrayed'

By Our Staff Reporter

Panelists at a discussion on portrayal of the mentally-ill in films share a lighter moment with the inmates of The Banyan. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI, OCT. 3. Filmmakers and actors agree that the mentally ill need to be portrayed sensitively in films. At the same time, they wanted activists not to adopt a strident and propagandist approach towards filmmakers, but co-opt them into the movement.

At a panel discussion on `Relationship of the media to attitudes towards the mentally ill,' organised by The Banyan, an organisation working for mentally ill destitute women, Mani Ratnam, director, said filmmakers had the creative freedom to tell a story. Exorcists treating people for mental ailments, as shown in films, was not far from the truth, he pointed out. But sometimes, such depiction wiped out years of work done by non-governmental organisations.

He said filmmakers could always check if the portrayal was sensitive and the facts were accurate.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu , said activists should respect the creative freedom of intellectuals and adopt an indirect approach to work out a solution to the problem of insensitive depiction of the mentally ill. Demands that sounded like propaganda should be avoided. Filmmakers should work out what their art could do to break common myths about the mentally ill.

Too often, media such as television were blamed for a social failure when society was full of obscurantism and superstition, he said. The contributory factors should be sorted out more accurately.

Taking The Banyan model as the basis, corporate houses, institutions and individuals should be roped in to create a sense of social responsibility and contribute to the movement, he said.

Vivek Oberoi, actor and ambassador of The Banyan, said creativity in any form should not be curbed, but a balance should be struck in dealing with the issue. Working towards destigmatising mental illness would be a step forward in creating social responsibility among filmmakers.

R. Madhavan, the actor, said that actors, before playing a role, usually observed mentally ill persons. There was hardly any research on the portrayal of the fact that mental illness is curable.

Khushboo, the actress, said that in movies being mad was being childish, doing silly things and making people laugh. This definitely was not how the mentally ill behaved.

Vivek, the comedian, said portraying inhuman practices in the name of treatment should be done away with while films should also depict that quacks end up in jail.

Setting the tone for the discussion, Vijay Nagaswami, psychiatrist and moderator, said the mass media's portrayal of mental illness had given rise to fear of the mentally ill in the minds of the people.

Awareness campaigns

The participants suggested public interest campaigns for creating awareness and improving infrastructure for treatment of the mentally ill.

Earlier, treasurer of The Banyan, M.A. Vellodi, cut a cake to celebrate the organisation's 11th anniversary. He said the philosophy of the organisation was to rehabilitate the mentally ill women, but it required support from all quarters to continue working in the field.

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