Atrangi Re: 7 Things It Gets Wrong About Mental Health

Aanand L Rai's movie Atrangi Re released on Christmas eve. Unfortunately, the movie that was expected to hit records like Raanjhanaa, did not impress many. The Sara Ali Khan, Dhanush, Akshay Kumar starrer was in news for its quirky dialogues in the trailer and the obviously the song "Chaka Chak" by Shreya Ghoshal that became a national party anthem. Apart from these factors, the movie could not justify the storyline it chose to build itself on. Atrangi Re And Mental Health

The story of love, forceful marriage (bhagua vivah) prevalent in parts of Bihar and challenges of the mentally ill patient was expected to do more than just a mockery. It did try to address mental health but in the course of it lost track completely. Here are is how we feel the film got mental health wrong.

Atrangi Re And Mental Health: 7 Problematic Issues

When Psychiatrist belittles his own patient:

Vishnu's (played by Dhanush) friend who is a Psychiatrist jokes about his own patients who are suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder-OCD (chronic, and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts), Alzheimer's(disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions), Bipolar Disorder (a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings), and Schizophrenia (a mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally).

The psychiatrist mocks at their disorders saying that just like Rinku (played by Sara Ali Khan), only his patients suffering from the disorders can see Sajjad (played by Akshay Kumar). While a professional at mental health, helps to sensitise the situation, the doctor puts the character at wrong through his untoward behaviour.

When Rinku's behaviour of believing the "unseen" was appreciated in the movie

The scene in Atrangi Re might have gone wrong with the audience battling mental health. Rinku tries to show Sajjad's act of magic and suicide and the medical professionals like Vishnu and his friends, encourage her in the act of belief, instead of providing professional help to her.

In Indian society, mental health is still taboo. People frown upon it in the name of medical treatment, labelling it as "pagalpan" and many others still don't find affordable access to medical facilities with regard to the mental health challenge.

Lack of sensitisation towards domestic violence and mental trauma

The movie could have set the right example of making the people speak about domestic violence and the mental trauma they face because of it. However, it does the exact opposite when Rinku says Vishnu on being thrown water at by to-be father in law, "Buddha do teen thappad maar ke chhor hi deta hai, pitne mai PhD hai hamari, humari nani se zada thori na mar leta ye". Instead of explaining Rinku how she has been doing wrong by not speaking up, Vishnu asks her to shut up.

The movie might have been made in a good mood to show how love can transform the challenges of mental health patient, the scenes are just a misfit and does exactly the opposite than what would have been expected.

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Starting Treatment Without Consent

One might argue that the writer may not be aware and well versed with the national laws in regard to the treatment of mental health patients, however, there is a universal Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that mandates people with disabilities to have the right to self-determination. It is shown that Rinku is given medicines by the doctors without her consent throughout the movie and does not explain to her what implications it might have or why she needs the medicine.

"Science is our last hope par science ne kya kar liya?"

The line by Vishnu to his psychiatrist friend discourages and nullifies the work of many mental health professionals and experts who have been working effortlessly for many years to get the right treatment for their patients. Earlier, when mental health issues were not even considered a disease but supernatural, science brought the issue to the limelight with numerous researches and case studies. Additionally, to this dialogue, the psychiatrist friend replies "gadbad hogaya thora!"

Mental health challenges=pagalpan

 This is the definition given by the doctor who plays a Psychiatrist in the story. The unfair use of the word pagalpan to declare the condition of a woman who needs serious help regarding her situation is nothing but mocking a critical condition of the mental health patient.

 In an interview with Firstpost, when Anand L Rai was asked that many sections of the society have accused him of trivialising mental health and what was his take regarding it?, he said, "I am used to such accusations. When my Raanjhanaa was released, I was accused of legitimising stalking."

 Medicine doesn't act as a miracle

 As depicted in the movie, within a span of 60 days the medicine starts working on Rinku and she starts to recover in bits and pieces. Generally, as per the clinical researches conducted, to treat the patients using psychotherapy having co-occurring conditions, a span of 12-18 months are required, while others require the moderate duration of 12-16 weekly sessions.

However, Rinku starts reacting to the medicines (and that too irregular intake very soon, as she leaves her medicines midway if she starts having some weird imagination about Sajjad), which is very immature to be shown in a movie dealing with the serious topic of mental health.

 Bollywood should discourage the wrong portrayal of mental health issues. A huge amount of the audience believes in what their favourite stars display through their characters on screen. In this context, every scene should be well crafted, keeping in mind the large range of people it caters to.

The views expressed are the author's own.