Mad tales from Bollywood : portayal of mental illness in conventional Hindi cinema

Cinema's culture -- Culture and mental illness -- Cinema, emotions, and psychiatry in India -- Attitudes towards mental illness -- Socioeconomic factors and cinema in India -- History of Hindi cinema -- Indian personality, villainy and history -- 1950s fun, Funtoosh and Kishore Kumar -- Psychoanalysis in the films of the 1960s -- Arrival of the new villain -- Rootless 1980s and fundamentalist 1990s -- Why should women remain behind? -- New century : new villains -- Family fun, frolics and madness in Khilona -- Electric shock treatment in Hindi cinema -- Conclusions.

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, villainy and history;
Psychoanalysis in the films of the 60s.

Mad Tales from Bollywood will be of interest to psychiatrists, mental health professionals, students of media and cultural studies and anyone with an interest in Indian culture.