The dual faces of mental health disorders in local films

The intrinsically intricate nooks and crevices of the realities of living with mental health disorders can very well be deemed as being only ever harsher than those represented in media. Even the churning and voicing of these complexities via books or writing can only do so much to make people perceive mental health disorders for what they are. However, when push comes to shove, representations of psychological disorders in any form can mean a further step taken to bring awareness to them — and Bangladeshi projects seem to have touched upon two rather specific ways to represent them.

As of late, especially with the reign of OTT platforms, our industry and its creative counterparts are increasingly moving towards the direction of crafting thrilling and adventurous projects rooted in realism. The creation of awareness surrounding mental health ordeals is hence naturally bound to become a concept worth delving headfirst into considering 18.17% of adults in Bangladesh experience mental health issues. As per a report shared by Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr Shahanur Hossain during a seminar organised by Dhaka University's Department of Clinical Psychology and Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Society (BCPS) to mark World Mental Health Day this year, among this previously mentioned percentage, depression, anxiety, and somatisation disorders account for 13.9%, making them the most common psychological problems. 

As a consequence, the depiction of a good culmination of mental health disorders can add to showcasing people nationwide the unrelenting possibility of never giving in to the fatalistic call of the likes of depression, and other damning psychological disorders exhibiting symptoms similar to depression.

"Forget Me Not"

The shunning and shaming of individuals, particularly women, without "normal" behavioural qualities, in our modern world today, get acknowledged as "pagol" (mad) by the masses. As per the historical conduct towards people who aren't "normal", not many take the responsibility of those who need help. Nevertheless, the loss of life due to depression or other intolerant illnesses is one that affects a lot more associated people thereby inducing them into a state of unforgiving guilt-tripping. The similar pattern of one taking a heartbreaking action due to a mental illness disorder followed by people's resounding response of utter shock is therefore likely to remain as it is.

In Robiul Alam Robi's web-film "Forget Me Not", Fahim, played by Yash Rohan, is a prime example of a person thrashing and retching in agony internally — only to never explicitly convey the depths of his hurt to anyone. He does not even take any action that could've been suspected as a symptom of his mental illness before he kills himself. It is only when Aurthee, portrayed by Mehazabien Chowdhury, pokes around for the truth, after his demise, that his mother reveals he was indeed suffering and tried to commit suicide once before.

The film is a positive reminder to pay special attention to someone you know is going through a hard time. Additionally, "Forget Me Not" does a good job of representing the emotional turmoil within those who are most affected after a person takes his own life. The scene when Aurthee discovers the small cottage-like home Fahim had found for them — away from the clamorous city life, via a helper also residing in the mountains — is significant. The helper recalls his conversations with Fahim and tells Aurthee that Fahim simply chose never to truly convey his feelings because according to Fahim, his emotions were too convoluted for anyone to comprehend.

"Tithidor"

The film ends on a satisfactory note—Aurthee breaks off her engagement with her colleague-turned-boyfriend, which had caused both her and Fahim to become more anxious, and she gets to live with Fahim's cat after it finds its way to her. The fact that she comes to terms with facing reality in a peaceful way of her own can offer strength to a similarly affected viewer.

Vicky Zahed's "Tithidor", another drama starring Mehazabien as the central character who suffers from depression, is also one that ends on a hopeful note. It illustrates the story of Nishat in her 30s who gets pushed to the edge of her mental and emotional state after her beloved breaks things off with her and finds someone else. Her anger and frustration with life and living become more pronounced with time, so much so that she even misbehaves with an innocent little girl, among other unpleasant situations. Her want and even attempt at ending her life further highlights her inability to find the light at the end of the tunnel. The almost constant criticism she faces about being an unmarried woman in her 30s acts as another negative affliction to her deteriorating mental state. 

Ironically, she finds meaning in life after seeing the aforementioned little girl succumbing to the deadly cruelty of an unfortunate disease. The drama ends on a pleasant note with Nishat enjoying her own company carefreely in the process of finding herself once again. The inspiring climax is something that more local projects fail to follow through.

"Jahan"

A troupe that our industry falls into when creating mental health-related projects is the enmeshing of a realistic problem with supernatural factors. Films like "Jahan" by Atiq Zaman and "Tithir Oshukh" by Imraul Rafat, leap into hallucinations to paint the consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia, respectively. Moreover, the projects feel the need to bring up generic distasteful social biases against women. 

Jahan, played by Nazia Haque Orsha, is easily termed "pagol" by anyone who interacts with her. She lives with the debilitating truth of having killed her bedridden and ill mother. Although as viewers we are never revealed the truth of that belief of hers because her mental state again compels her to visualise killing her assisting nurse. Jahan even gets arrested for confessing to murdering the said nurse when she definitely did not commit the crime. 

On the other hand, Tithi, portrayed by Tasnia Farin, after being abused while growing up by her stepmother and uncle and even through her first marriage, becomes wretched mentally. Her second and devoted husband's (Yash Rohan) action of murdering all those who had once made her miserable does not help her case because she ends up thinking of herself as cursed for her dreams of them dying days before they end up dead.

"Tithir Oshukh"

Jahan gets the statement, "You should get yourself a kid, then keep yourself busy," thrown at her. In contrast, Tithi's second husband gets the, "Who would have married an abused and divorced woman like her if not for you?" — further exacerbating the treatment towards women with psychological disorders, even to this day. I, for one, simply fail to grasp the need to further fan the flames of deplorable perspective that should remain as the unprogressive and unhelpful sentiments of the past. These on-screen representations are not likely to help extinguish dissent, instead, they make it possible for viewers to think that it is okay to continue ignoring signs to mull over the real problem. 

The projects that endeavour to camouflage themselves as representations of mental health problems in the guise of supernatural thrillers, end on sombre notes, which do not necessarily have to be resolved favourably. However, the real issue lies in the derailment of the focus on raising awareness about mental health disorders to make room for the supernaturally suspenseful elements, which in hindsight fail to provide consequential understandings of such disorders, making them still nonexistent. Local projects ought to do well when embodying post-traumatic disorder, schizophrenia, and even other more complex illnesses, for what they truly are at their symptomatic stages — not for the sake of entertainment but to provide an outlet to years' worth of investigations and results encompassing psychological disorders.