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Chitrachanchala (Pictures of unstable mind): Mental health themes in

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Chitrachanchala (Pictures of unstable mind): Mental health themes in Kannada

cinema
Chillal Guru Prasad a; Girish N. Babu a; Prabha S. Chandra a; Santosh K. Chaturvedi a
a
Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India

Online Publication Date: 01 June 2009

To cite this Article Prasad, Chillal Guru, Babu, Girish N., Chandra, Prabha S. and Chaturvedi, Santosh K.(2009)'Chitrachanchala
(Pictures of unstable mind): Mental health themes in Kannada cinema',International Review of Psychiatry,21:3,229 — 233
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 International Review of Psychiatry, June 2009; 21(3): 229–233

Chitrachanchala (Pictures of unstable mind): Mental health themes in

Kannada cinema

CHILLAL GURU PRASAD, GIRISH N. BABU, PRABHA S. CHANDRA, &

SANTOSH K. CHATURVEDI

Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India

Abstract
Regional movies in India play an important role in portraying mental illness and also depict awareness and attitudes of
society towards people with mental health problems. Kannada (the language spoken by 50 million people from the state of
Karnataka in South India) cinema has produced a range of movies depicting conditions ranging from psychosis to personality
disorders. However, the descriptions of mental illness in several of these movies is vague and often stigmatizing. Some
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landmark films have involved psychiatrists in producing and directing the movies, including helping with the story line,
which have added value to these films. Despite Karnataka being home to some of the important psychiatrists in the country
and to some of the most famous and advanced mental health training and treatment centres, depictions of treatment and the
portrayal of psychiatrists continues to be caricatured. As is true of many parts of India, treatment methods are often magico-
religious, which is what Kannada cinema also reflects.

Introduction 50 years depicting mental illness and the influence of

Public attitudes and awareness are influenced by the
media and are susceptible to change as media
attitudes change. However, concerns remain regard-
ing media coverage of mental illness. There has been
essentially negative portrayal of the mentally ill in the
media (Matas et al., 1986). One medium that has
manifested a fascination with psychiatry and psychi-
atric illness is the cinema. Movies have been accused
by critics of reinforcing powerful negative stereotypes
of both psychiatrists and psychiatric patients.
Though most of the movies revolve around interper-
sonal relationship and social themes depicting the
range of human emotions, there are several movies
which depict psychiatric illness as the main theme.
Movies play a major role in providing information
as well as in shaping attitudes towards mental illness.
Portrayal of different issues in movies has been
influenced by the changing socio-cultural, political
and economic factors. In a place where cultural and
religious beliefs have a strong role in causation of
illness, more so for mental illness, the same has
significant influence on attitude, approach for care
and treatment. This aspect of Hindi cinema has been
discussed at length in the book entitled Mad Tales
from Bollywood (Bhugra, 2006). The author of this
book reviews the important Hindi movies of the last
political and social factors on movies. He concludes
that psychiatry and mental illness have had a bad
press for a long time and that movies often tend to
display stigmatizing stereotypes of mental illness and
psychopathy.
Regional movies play an important role in portray-
ing mental illness, and are popular among the
populace speaking that regional language. Regional
movies from South India, particularly Tamil,
Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada movies, have had
significant influence in depicting mental illness.
Descriptions of mentally ill are closer to reality than
Hindi mainstream cinema and appear to give more
accurate information. This article aims to describe
several important Kannada movies which have
mental illness as the theme and their possible
influence on awareness and attitudes of the society
towards mental illness.
The sections under which the movies have been
described include: the major psychiatric illness and
the appropriateness of the description, treatment
methods including the portrayal of psychiatric
hospitals and finally, the depiction of psychiatrists
and mental health professionals. There have
been several Kannada movies focusing mainly on
mental health themes apart from those which
depict psychopathy and substance use disorders.

Correspondence: Santosh K. Chaturvedi, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
Tel: 91-80-26995250. Fax: 91-80-26564830. E-mail: skchatur@gmail.com
ISSN 0954–0261 print/ISSN 1369–1627 online ß 2009 Institute of Psychiatry
DOI: 10.1080/09540260902747037
 230 C. G. Prasad et al.
Description of these movies will be based on the core
mental health issue or disorder, followed by impor-
tant contributions by certain personalities.
Psychosis or madness
Many movies have used presence of any psycholog-
ical symptom as evidence of madness, most often in a
lighter vein. ‘Madness’, often used to describe
psychosis, is an ill-defined concept in the movies.
Two movies which have described psychosis, are
Manasa Sarovara (Lake of the Mind, 1982) and
Sharapanjara (Cage of arrows, 1971), both of which
were directed by a famous Kannada director,
Puttanna kanagal. In Manasa Sarovara, the lead
role is played by a doctor (not a psychiatrist) with an
interest in psychiatry, who takes up the challenge of
treating a woman with psychosis. In the movie, the
description of psychosis is characterized by inappro-
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priate smiling, irrelevant talk, regressed behaviour,
unprovoked violence and loss of activities of daily
living. She is treated with nursing care, support,
warmth and affection. When the woman recovers,
she falls in love with a neighbour, while the doctor
develops a liking for the patient, while treating her
(positive counter transference). Later, the patient
moves out, without acknowledging the help provided
by the doctor. In the end the doctor becomes angry
and eventually becomes psychotic, with similar
symptoms as his patient had! The movie was inter-
esting as a prototype for how psychiatry was viewed
at that time in the community. The doctor was not a
trained psychiatrist and maybe reflective of the
dearth of psychiatrists in general practice as most of
them worked in institutions. The healer becoming ill
formed the climax of the movie and again hints at
psychiatrists being vulnerable individuals for mental
health problems themselves.
Another movie by Puttanna kanagal, Sharapanjara
(Cage of arrows) is about a woman who develops
postpartum psychosis, recovers but relapses at the
end of the movie. The symptom profile is the same as
described for the above movie. Despite complete
recovery, she is not allowed to take care of her
children, and her husband feels socially ostracized by
living with her in the house. Her sister’s marriage
gets cancelled due to the stigma and myths of mental
illness. The husband becomes critical and hostile
(high expressed emotions) towards her and she has a
relapse of symptoms when she discovers that her
husband has an extramarital affair. Marma (hidden
meaning, 2002) directed by Sunil Kumar Desai,
describes a woman who becomes psychotic after
witnessing a violent death. She is shown to be
continuously hallucinating with significant acting out
behaviour and disturbed. A psychiatrist identifies this
phenomenon as post-traumatic stress disorder,
which is resolved after re-exposing the patient to
the same situation.
In the movies which have been described above,
the symptom profile does not fit any diagnostic
category. Most of the symptoms of madness are
stereotyped, and depict violence as an important
feature. The treatment in the earlier movies involves
more of nursing care and warmth, though the recent
movies describe use of counselling and medications.
Sharapanjara (Cage of arrows) also depicts the
stigma faced by the individual and her family.
Finally, the notion and myths about mental illness
being transmittable, infectious or contagious are
highlighted, as eventually in one movie the psychi-
atrist becomes mad.
Depression
In Kannada movies, mood disorders are depicted
less commonly than psychosis. Mood disorders most
often shown are depressive disorders, mostly post-
natal depression has fascinated movie makers.
Depressive disorders have been considered equiva-
lent to adjustment problems. Aaghaata (shock, 1994)
directed by Suresh Heblikar and produced by
Dr Ashok Pai, a consultant psychiatrist, describes a
woman who suffers from recurrent episodes of
depression. The episodes follow life events and
when she has an episode during postpartum she
commits infanticide. She is taken to a psychiatrist
who gives a biopsychosocial model of illness with
some elements of psychoanalytic principles.
Narcoanalysis has been shown as a method of
interview and she is shown to be treated with
counselling though use of medication is briefly
mentioned. Postpartum depression has also been
described in Matthe Vasantha (Return of Spring)
released in 1983. It is interesting that several films
depict postpartum psychotic disorders and this may
be related to the commonly described phenomenon
of Sanni (mental health problems in postpartum)
which is culturally accepted in the Kannada
community.
Thus, the concept of mood disorders is restricted
to depressive disorders, mostly following delivery of a
baby or life events. There have been no depictions of
bipolar disorders; suicide is more often linked to life
situations rather than diagnosable psychiatric pro-
blems. Depression is treated in movies by counsel-
ling, with some of the recent movies depicting
medical treatment.
Dissociative disorders and multiple
personality disorders
Multiple personality (dissociative identity) disorder,
though an intriguing and fascinating theme for

movies, is less common in India, but has been a focus
in a couple of Kannada movies. Yeradu Mukha (Two
Faces, 1969) describes a woman who has two
personalities – the first a village belle who is submis-
sive and introvert, and the second an extrovert,
westernized, partying type. The motive symbolizes
the inner desire of the ‘simple’ woman to be
‘modern’. A recent movie, Aapthamithra (Close
Friend) directed by Dwarkish in 2004 portrays a
newly-wed couple who move to a supposedly
haunted house. The house had witnessed the death
of a princess, killed following her alleged relationship
with a musician. The newly-wed wife develops
behaviour changes after moving to the haunted
house. She dresses like the princess and dances in
the night. In the morning she returns to her normal
self and has amnesia for the events. A psychiatrist
identifies this phenomenon and helps in resolving it
by re-enacting, along with magico-religious methods
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of treatment to drive away the second personality.
Yeradu Mukha (Two Faces) has a clear description
of dissociation with multiple personality.
Aapthamithra (Close Friend) has multiple forms of
dissociation, including dissociative identity and
possession. Interestingly, the treatments described
as being effective include both medical and treatment
based on cultural belief systems.
Post-traumatic disorders
Post-traumatic amnesia and its consequences and
post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) have also
been depicted in a few movies. The usual theme
surrounds amnesia following a traumatic event, with
loss of personal identity and finally a retrieval of
recollections or memory on return to a familiar place
or on meeting a familiar person (state-dependent
memory!). In the movie Huchha (The Lunatic)
directed by Om Prakash in 2004, the hero loves a
woman, but following head injury loses his memory,
identity and ability to take care of himself. He is put
in an asylum, which shows chained mentally ill
patients and most of them exhibiting disorganized
behaviour. The hero is also chained, (even though he
is not violent), and he undergoes treatment with oil
massages! On recovering he returns to his lady love,
only to find that she has committed suicide.
Following this, he relapses, has abnormal behaviour
and is unable to recognize his family. This movie
gives a rather mixed and confused neuropsychiatric
picture of amnesia, its causes and consequences. The
oil massages used as treatment for a neuropsychiatric
problem such as amnesia, maybe a reflection of the
strong influence of Ayurveda in the culture.
Ayurvedic massages are used in the country for
several problems including psychiatric and neuro-
logical problems. The chaining of mentally ill people
Mental health themes in Kannada cinema 231
indicates the stigma and fear of mentally ill patients.
The name of the movie Huchha (Lunatic, 2004) is
also stigmatizing.
Psychosexual problems
Psychosexual problems have been a popular theme in
movies. Antaragami (Introspection, 1996) depicts
emotional reactions in a woman who has been
sexually abused. She avoids sex with her husband,
who is not aware of her trauma or the reason of her
avoiding intimacy. However, the psychiatrist is able
to unravel the reasons and with counselling is able to
resolve her problems.
Aagantuka (Unfamiliar Man, 1985) directed by
Suresh Heblikar deals with voyeurism.
A movie which became quite popular and focused
on impotence was Kadina Benki (Forest Fire, 1988).
The movie had a complex storyline including
unresolved oedipal issues and voyeurism causing
impotence. This was probably one of the few movies
which resorted to a psycho analytic model and the
psychiatrist’s couch. The movie was directed by
Suresh Heblikar and produced by Dr Ashok Pai.
Released in the eighties, this movie had the advan-
tage of a psychiatrist as a producer. However, the
theme was complex and because of its Freudian
overtones, one is not sure how it went down with the
Kannadigas for whom psychoanalysis and oedipal
issues are alien concepts. It was a bold theme and
brought psychotherapy and psychoanalysis into the
drawing room. The movie won a national film award.
Substance use disorders and alcoholism
There have been several movies on substance use
disorders, mainly on alcoholism, cannabis, opiates
and other illegal drugs. Mallamanna Pavadha
(Mallamma’s Magic, 1966) directed by Puttanna
Kanagal in the 1970s depicts the use of cannabis to
control people after making them dependent on it.
Shabdavedi (In the Line of Sound, 2000) directed by
S. Narayana, deals with drug peddlers. In the process
of trying to control the drug trafficking an police
officer finds his son being a victim of drug abuse. In
both the above movies noted actor Dr Rajkumar, the
super-hero of Kannada cinema, played the leading
role. The title Shabdavedi has important connota-
tions in Indian mythology and is a metaphor for
people with excellence and skill being led to disaster
because of the very skills that they possess.
Use of substances, particularly alcohol, has been
shown in many Kannada movies. Alcoholism is
depicted as immoral and as a bad habit of the villain
or anyone with a negative role in the movie. Clear
description of dependence pattern and its harmful
effects have not been shown, though craving and
 232 C. G. Prasad et al.
compulsive drug use have been depicted for opiates
and intravenous drug use. In Kannada movies,
substance use is presented more as a social issue,
rather than a mental health issue.
Personality disorders
Depiction of personality disorders, particularly anti-
social personality, has been a common theme but
merges with a concept of criminality. Most of the
movies based on the themes of violent revenge
involve individuals who are remorseless, violent,
have a substance use habit, and are promiscuous.
Movies involving crime and terrorism have charac-
ters which depict antisocial behaviour. A recent
Kannada movie Psycho (Psycho, 2008) directed by
Devadutta, deals with a man with psychopathic
personality and his relationship with a girl.
Psychopathy is not depicted as a mental health
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problem, but as a cause or effect of social factors.
Mental retardation and child mental health
Movies involving mental health issues in childhood
are infrequent. Prathama Ushakirana (First Sunray)
directed by Suresh Heblikar in 1990, deals with
adjustment-related issues. Suresh Heblikar in a role
of a father, returning to India following a stay abroad,
expects his children to follow the western culture.
When he insists, his son absconds from the house
and his daughter develops nocturnal enuresis and
somnambulism. After consulting a psychiatrist, the
father is made aware of the adjustment problems of
his children and is advised not to enforce western
culture on the kids. An interesting movie, it describes
the influence of culture, parenting and migration on
children in contemporary India.
Mental retardation has been described in many
movies, though less commonly as the main theme.
Swathi Mutthu (White Pearl, 2008) directed by
Dr Rajendra Babu, describes a man with subnormal
intelligence and his relationship with a widow. In the
movie the hero raises important issues such as why a
widow cannot remarry, and finally gets married to
her. Gurushishyaru (Master and the Disciples, 1981),
depicts a group of men with mental retardation and
their interaction with their teacher. They are shown
to have regressed and childlike behaviour. In most
other movies people with intellectual impairment
have been included as comic supporting characters
who add an amusing sideshow to the central story.
Description of the psychiatrist and
psychiatric set up
The characters of psychiatrists in most Kannada
movies have been unremarkable and do not leave any
lasting (positive) impression. The only movie where
the psychiatrist has been in focus ended with him
getting mentally ill. The perception that treating
mentally ill persons for long periods in some way
makes doctors vulnerable to mental health problems
is common with the public. However, few women
psychiatrists have been portrayed in Kannada
movies. Healing has more often been depicted as
magico-religious, including shamans, prayers and
temples. These movies describe these methods as the
initial port of call in treatment, and later on comes
the role of psychiatrist. This depiction reflects the
prevalent pathways to psychiatric care. When it
comes to treatment, somatic treatment like medica-
tions and ECTs have been depicted infrequently and
most common methods of treatment shown include
counselling and guidance.
Descriptions of psychiatric hospitals are mostly of
asylums where patients are chained in overcrowded
wards. ECT as a mode of treatment has been shown,
but is more often portrayed as a mode of punish-
ment, rather than treatment.
Popularity and acceptance of the themes
Movies depicting mental illness in Kannada cinema
have been less popular compared to movies on social
issues. Often movies with more realistic depictions of
mental illness have been considered to have a
‘documentary’ feel to them and are not very popular
with the public as they do not have as much
entertainment value. It is interesting that mental
health themes were quite popular in the 1980s and
1990s compared to this decade. This may be a
reflection of the movie makers of that era, and the
current preoccupation with violence and/or youthful
themes in movies. However, what is notable and
optimistic is that several of the Kannada movies with
mental health themes, such as Manasa Sarovara
(1982), Kadina Benki (1988), Prathama Ushakirana
(1990), have won national awards.
South India has the reputation of having larger
than life heroes among film stars. Several of the film
heroes have huge fan clubs and adulatory mass
followings. They are also known to easily influence
public opinion. However, this has not been taken
advantage of by movie makers to destigmatize mental
illness or bring about a movement in mental health at
least in Karnataka.
Conclusions
When it comes to mental illness, media has an
important role in spreading awareness as well as
reducing stigma. Relatives of the mentally ill identify
mentally ill or psychopathic killers, depicted in many
movies, as the largest single contributor to the stigma

of that illness. While it is true that some Kannada
movies tend to represent the mentally ill as comic
supporting characters and the main mode of treat-
ment depicted has been magico-religious, overall, the
treatment of mental illness in Kannada movies has
had a few bright sparks. Some of these movies have
been landmark films of their time and some have won
accolades at the national level. The interesting fact
that psychiatrists themselves have produced and
written the storylines for some of these movies
indicates an inclination towards authenticity and
professionalism in movie making of this genre. A lot
more can be done in Kannada cinema about
spreading awareness and destigmatization about
mental illness, considering the strong power and
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Mental health themes in Kannada cinema 233
influence that cinema and certain film stars hold over
the populace in this region.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no
conflicts of interest. The authors alone are respon-
sible for the content and writing of the paper.
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