The positive reviews garnered by the Dear Zindagi are based not only on the stellar performance of protagonist Alia Bhatt but also on the way that the issue of mental illness and disorders is dealt with. In a film industry that often laughs at and ridicules mental illness these films have been few and far between; however, this is not the first time a Hindi film has dealt with mental disorders. Here are some others that may be worth watching:
Set in a mental asylum, the 1969 black-and-white Hindi drama film directed by Asit Sen, starring Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna with a cameo by Dharmendra had great music and centred around the dark theme of mental imbalance following traumatic events
The movie marked the dawn of the antihero in Hindi films and portrayed Shah Rukh Khan as the unhinged, obsessed lover who spoke to his dead mother and created a shrine to the object of his fanatical affections.
While not about a mental illness, this film was important because of how it shed light on dyslexia; a condition that few Indians knew about and even fewer were willing to acknowledge. The film demystified the condition for us at tugged at our heartstrings with Darsheel Safary’s stellar performance as a misunderstood dyslexic boy.
The 2005 film starring Kangana Ranaut and Shiney Ahuja explored schizophrenia. For this lesser known film thought to be based on the tragic life of Parveen Babi, Kangana Ranaut received rave reviews that compared her with the likes of Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil.
While many raised questions about the story line and faithfulness with which the condition was portrayed by protagonist Shah Rukh Khan in the movie, the 2010 film remains the movie that explained Asperger’s Syndrome to the Indian public.
While the film may have created more headlines for Aamir Khan's haircut and amazing body, it was in fact about a mental condition called Anterograde amnesia which is the brain's inability to create new memories after a particularly traumatic event while long-term memories from before the event remain intact.
If you haven’t watched this film and mean to see this psychological thriller starring Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone skip this. Spoiler Alert- The film touches on schizophrenia and childhood trauma leading the development of multiple personalities.
This film was a defining one for the lead pair of Ranbir Kapoor as the deaf mute and Priyanka Chopra as an autistic woman who share an unbreakable bond. It is well worth the watch for their performances, the treatment of the issue of autism and the aesthetics of the film.
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