Awareness about Diseases through Hindi Movies

They say cinema is the reflection of the society. With so much popularity as a powerful medium of communication and infotainment (sometimes only entertainment), there is no doubt that many times society gets inspired by the kind of cinema it is exposed to. At least once in our lives, we have been introduced to something or another through cinema. Things that we did not give much heed held a lot of importance after we watched the same in the form of a story. Crime in society, roots of terrorism, corruption, and many other topics were presented to us in an impactful manner. Very often, we contemplated well after our cinematic experiences and consciously or subconsciously changed our approach in some way.

 

Cinema has also done one more favor to us by introducing us to various forms of prevailing diseases – some of them we see very often and some of them are very rare. The medium has played a very important role in introducing us to a few diseases, including some of the rarest diseases.

 

Some of those diseases were never known to the common people before. “Lympho Sarcoma of the intestine”, said the doctor when the patient inquired about the condition that he was suffering from in the movie Anand released in 1971. After knowing about the condition, the patient said “Wow, what a big name?” and laughed. The movie shows how a patient makes the most of every moment he has left in his short life though he knows that there is a big tumor growing inside his stomach and he can die anytime soon.

 

Many were unaware of the condition of Dyslexia before Amir Khan came up with his directorial debut Tare Zameen Par in 2007. It is the inability to write and read. The movie had a huge impact on the society. People who used to force their children to read and write realized their mistakes, and those who had children facing the same problem learned about how to tackle the issue. The way to overcome the problem is through love, affection, and exceptional care with intelligence and not avoidance or punishment is what the movie advises. Similarly, Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut U, Me aur Hum released in 2008 taught us about the ill effects of Alzheimer's disease. The movie shows how a husband chooses a different path in his life to take care of his wife who suffers from the disease. Leaving the patient in an asylum is not the only solution, the movie advocated.

 

There are two movies that surprised the audience by highlighting two very rare diseases. Deewangi in 2002 highlighted the condition of Split Personality whereas Aparichit in 2006 documented the violent effects of Multiple personality disorder. The audience was shocked to see the way the consequences of the medical conditions were imagined and presented in the two movies. While in Deewangi, a pivotal character starts behaving completely differently as if he is being possessed by someone, Aparichit shows how a single person can possess multiple personalities based on situations. Bhool Bhulaiya, which was released in 2007, is a movie made on a similar subject.

 

Mahesh Manjrekar’s first Hindi movie Nidaan released in 2000 described how a teenage girl suffers from AIDS and how she goes through different physical conditions until death. On the contrary, Phir Milenge made in 2004 on the same subject of an HIV-positive victim doesn’t focus on the miseries of the disease but the society’s attitude towards such patients.

 

Ghajini released in 2008 highlighted the woes of suffering from Short Term Memory Loss. The movie Paa released in 2010 introduced many people to Progeria, a condition because of which the patients age faster. Many came to know about autism through the movies Main Aisa Hi Hun and My Name is Khan. Starting from Dil Ek Mandir in 1963 till Kal Ho Na Ho in 2003, the industry gave us many movies on Cancer. Movies like Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se and Milli teach us how to treat patients who are counting their days.

 

It is important to note that while some movies revolved around diseases and patients, many others highlighted the issues the kins of the patients face. Movies like Tera Mera Saath Rahe, 3 Idiots, and Munna Bhai MBBS had secondary characters suffering from some or other condition and showed how the patients affected the lives of the main characters.