Indian films on mental illnesses

From Subaltern Studies

1. Funtoosh’ (1956) -- dealt with mental illness in comic and turning point in the story
2. ‘Karorpati’ (‘The Millionaire’) (1961) -- dealt with mental illness in comic and turning point in the story
3. ‘Half-Ticket’ (1962) -- dealt with mental illness in comic and turning point in the story
4. ‘Raat aur Din’ (‘Night and Day’) (1967), which won the Presidents’ Medal for its heroine. Heavily influenced by the Hollywood film ‘Three Faces of Eve,’ the story of a traditional married Indian woman who, under the influence of alcohol, becomes a Westernized woman who dances and flirts with strange men
5. ‘Khamoshi’ (‘The Silence’) (1969) showed the story of a nurse who cures a patient through psychoanalysis and falls in love with him as part of the counter-transference which is never resolved.
6. ‘Ittefaq’ (‘Coincidence’) (1969) used mental illness as a device to indicate that the protagonist could not be trusted, but the portrayal was sympathetic.
7. A box office hit, ‘Khilona’ (‘The Toy’) (1970) showed that the treatment of mental illness was marriage.
8. Red Rose (Bharati Raja, 1980) is the story of a girl who marries a character who turns out to be mentally disturbed.
9. Another big hit during this period is ‘Khalnayak’ (‘The Villain’) (1993), which has the hero as the villain who, coming from a family of freedom fighters, finds that the system has let him down and in joining a corrupt politician starts his reign of terror.
10. A trilogy of films starring the current number one hero in Hindi cinema, Shah Rukh Khan were based on psychosis, – ‘Baazigar’ (‘The Illusionist’) (1993) and ‘Anjaam’ (‘The Consequence’) (1994), ‘Darr’ (‘Fear’) (1995)
11. ‘Gupt’ (‘Secret’) (1997) and ‘Kaun’ (‘Who’) (1999) used heroines who were clearly psychotic.
12. ‘Aaina’ (‘The Mirror’) (1993) and ‘Pyar Tune Kya Kiya’ (‘What Kind of Love’) (1999) showed obsessive borderline female protagonists.
13. ‘Dilwale’ (‘Those with Hearts’) (1994) and ‘Tere Naam’ (‘In Your Name’) (2003), the heroes suffer. In the former, the hero has gone psychotic and his psychosis is effectively influenced by the lunar cycle. A full moon makes him violent when all hell breaks loose in the psychiatric hospital. In a rather tedious and long-winded story, it becomes clear that love has something to do with it. In ‘Tere Naam,’ following a beating by the villains, the hero develops a head injury and the ‘neuropsychiatrist’ encourages the family to take him to an Ayurvedic ashram where the inmates are controlled by the barbed wire and the treatments include head massage, blessings and other Ayurvedic techniques indicating a hark back to traditional living.
14. Other more recent examples such as ‘Dewangee’ (‘Madness’) (2002) and ‘Aitbaar’ (‘Reliance’) (2003), ‘Madhoshi’ (‘Intoxication’) (2004) show protagonists to be psychopaths with pseudo hallucinations.
15. 'Ghajini' (Murugadoss, Tamil, 2005)
16. Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara (2006), directed by Jhanu Barua, deals with Alzheimer's disease, an issue that hasn't been tackled on Hindi screen before. It throws light on the lives of patients with such a disease-how the patient himself and his family suffer due to his mental condition. It also shows society's unaccepting and hypocritical attitude towards members of such families. People still think that mental illness runs in families and many young women face such problems before and during their marriage especially in Indian society where arranged marriages are still the norm. It also shows the parent-child relationship, the feeling of being 'unwanted' that a senior citizen experiences at times and the caregivers' burden.
17. The film "Woh Lamhe" (2006) was based on the life of the late actress Parveen Babi, who suffered from schizophrenia.
18. Devrai, a Marathi film, is based on psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, most issues associated with severe and persistent mental illness are addressed. Risk factors such as faulty parenting, unhealthy family life and their correlation with the patient's chemical imbalance are tackled well. Other issues like the patient's capacity to resist giving in to delusions and hallucinatory experience as well as family involvement are all explored in some detail. The film depicts the internal experience and logic of hallucinations in an in-depth and sensitive manner. It depicts the social and familial stigma surrounding mental illness as well as the concerns and dilemmas faced by caregivers. It also tries to explore family insights, support structures and alternative institutions of mental health care.
19. Another Marathi film, "Ratra Arambh" is also based on schizophrenia.
20. Malayalam film, "Thanmatra" shows dementia affecting a middle-aged person and focuses attention on the social difficulties of dealing with dementia.

For a list on films dealing with mental illnesses in Hollywood/European films visit here and here