Mental health professionals in the country have taken serious objections to the title of the upcoming film ‘Mental hai kya’ starring Rajkumar Rao and Kangana Ranaut , terming it ‘discriminative’ that violates rights of the people with mental disorders.

While the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has shot off a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) seeking removal of the title that, it said, is “discriminative, stigmatising, degrading and inhuman in projecting mental disorders and persons who suffer mental disorders, “ the social media world was also abuzz with psychiatrists sharing their views about the need to bridge the gap in all aspects of mental health.

In line of fire is the newly released poster of the movie, produced by Ekta Kapoor led Balaji Production, written by Kanika Dhillon and directed by Prakash Kovelmudi, which is captioned “Get ready for craziness that cuts through!”

The mental health experts have slammed the poster which depicts the artistes trying to balance a razor sharp blade between their tongues. The images showcase Kangana making a cross-eyed face while Rajkummar shows his two middle fingers, Kangana with a matchstick on her tongue while Rajkummar stubs a cigarette on his forehead… so on and so forth.

The poster further reads: “This June, witness two mentals collide”, before breaking into a montage of images with the words “crazy, bizarre, crack, freaky, whacky, gutsy, weirdo, psycho”.

The IPS said in the letter, “We strongly demand the title to be removed with immediate effect preventing further damage to the modesty of mental health service users.”

Dr Smita N Deshpande, Professor & Head of Department of Psychiatry, Centre of Excellence in Mental Health, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital too condemned the title of the film. “At a time when the country is coming out of the stigma with various film actors sharing their pain of having gone through the illness, it is sad that films like ‘mental hai kya’ only hamper our positive efforts.

“There are lots of myths and misconceptions in our country surrounding mental illnesses. Media should be sensitive in handling such issues,” she said.  She has a point. 1/8 in India are mentally ill according to a recent survey by the NIMHANS. In this background, such images does not augur well for mental health of our youth, Dr Deshpande added.

Amrit Bakhshy,  President of Schizophrenia Awareness Association took to tweeter as he said, “name of the film stigmatizes mental illness, needs to be changed,” while  disability rights activist Dr Satendra Singh added, “In a country where mental health is a taboo topic, such insensitive images and movie titles can make the situation worse.

“The title is derogatory and may be used for making fun of a serious issue. People working in the mental health sector have worked hard for years to bring about the much needed change in the way people think. The advancement made in the field can be easily undone by such movie titles,” he further said.

Dr Pavan Sonar, psychiatrist tweeted, “Yes , we need to change the stereotypes. Mental illness / being affected by it is not fun at all. Media, which influences the masses & classes must be sensitive towards it. Title #MentalHaiKya is not funny. #MentalHealth issues are real.”

The Central Board of Film Certification is yet to decide in the matter.

Saturday, 20 April 2019 | PNS | New Delhi

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