Mad Tales from Bollywood

This book examines attitudes towards mental illness in Indian culture, how they are reflected in Hindi films, and how culture has influenced the portrayal of the psychoses. It is of interest to psychiatrists, mental health professionals, and students of media and cultural studies. This is the first book to investigate how mental illness is portrayed in Hindi cinema. It examines attitudes towards mental illness in Indian culture, how they are reflected in Hindi films, and how culture has influenced the portrayal of the psychoses. Dinesh Bhugra guides the reader through the history of Indian cinema, covering developments from the idealism of the 1950s to the stalking, jealousy and psychopathy that characterises the films of the 1990s. Critiques of individual films demonstrate the culture's approach towards mental illness and reflect the impact of culture on films and vice versa. Subjects covered include: cinema and emotion; attitudes towards mental illness; socio-economic factors and cinema in India; Indian personality, villany and history; and psychoanalysis in the films of the 1960s.