Indian cinema has been hugely criticised for their portrayal of characters with mental disorders; whether it is Manjullika with diassociative identity disorder in the movie Bhool Bhulaiya or Kanagana Ranawat being described as a ‘psycho’ in the latest movie Judgemental Hai Kya. The movie Karthik calling Karthik, starring Farhan Akhtar revolves around the life of Karthik, a thirty year old male who has schizophrenia. The aim of this blog post is to analyse the movie’s portrayal of schizophrenia as a disorder.
One of the distinctive features of schizophrenia is having an altered sense of reality. This would include having the belief that people or things are going to harm or kill one, which ends up causing disruptions in the person’s normal day to day functioning. (Smith, Robinson & Segal) Karthik leaves himself a message every night to himself and shortly wakes up to his phone ringing with no re-collection of ever leaving the message. He grows to fear his ‘anonymous caller’, continuously talks about how they are ruining his life to Shonali and his psychiatrist. In the end, he even tries to kill himself because he believes that the anonymous caller will kill him. His fears make him so paranoid that they cause him to lose his job. He is unable to leave his house. He even ends up losing his relationship with Shonali. His fear of his anonymous caller also causes him to go to a remote place and refuse to even keep a landline anymore. Thus we see how his fear causes disfunction in his life.
A common feature of schizophrenia is experiencing hallucinations as well (Smith, Robinson & Segal). Karthik has visual and auditory Hallucinations. He experiences a visual hallucination hat he has a brother since his childhood who used to torture him and got killed while trying to push him into a well. He stated that he used to complain about his brother’s bullying to his parents who did nothing to help him. In reality he did not have a brother and was an only child, therefore when he complained to his parents, they could not see the ‘brother’ he was referring to.
Suicide is a one of the major causes of death among people with schizophrenia (Hor, Taylor). Schizophrenic Males who are unmarried, suffer from social isolation and little external support are at a higher risk of committing suicide (Hor, Taylor). All these factors are portrayed in the protagonist since he is an unmarried male with schizophrenia and initially does not have social support. People with schizophrenia who have previously attempted suicide are at a greater risk of attempting it again, which is what happens in the movie as well. Thus the relationship between suicide risk and schizophrenia has been well portrayed in the movie.
According to a poll conducted, two thirds of people believe that split personality is a part of schizophrenia (Kruszelnicki)
This movie also helps strengthen the false belief centred around schizophrenia being a disorder of personalities. This is done through lines like these :
‘Ek brain ke andar kaafi personalities chuppi rehti hai’.(There are many personalities in one brain)
Karthik is described seen as having two personalities. The first one being a shy , introverted one and the second one is often described as his ‘alter ego’ as a more confident and aggressive one. Thus fact that his disorder centres around the fact that he has two personalities is very misleading to the audience as it is an incorrect representation of people with schizophrenia. Even though split personality is a symptom in Dissassociative Identity disorder, Karthik was only diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Karthik is also shown as extremely smart in the movie. This is depicted in the scene where he reads a report in two minutes and can point out twelve errors. The movie shows him as being able to do complex mathematical calculations within seconds. He also seems to possess a very good memory. The myth of people having a superior intelligence due to schizophrenia is strengthened through this movie. Research shows that there is no relation between having schizophrenia and possessing a superior intelligence. (Olson)
Even though the movie does strengthen some myths centred around of people with schizophrenia, overall it has done a fairly good job in terms of research on schizophrenia ,showing its symptoms, effects and finally treatment through the character of Karthik. We also see Karthik get better through the support of Shonali and visiting his psychiatrist regularly. This breaks the common misconception that people with schizophrenia can’t be cured. Thus this movie in the context of Indian cinema helps educate the Indian audience about schizophrenia and de -stigmatise it as a mental health condition.
Bibliography
Hor, K., & Taylor, M. (2010). Suicide and schizophrenia: a systematic review of rates and risk factors. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 24(4 Suppl), 81–90.
Kruszelnicki, K. (2019). Schizophrenia & Split Personality › News in Science (ABC Science). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Olson, A. (2014). Beautiful Myths and the Minds of Schizophrenics. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2019). Schizophrenia Symptoms and Coping Tips. Retrieved November 2019.
Lalwani, V. (2010). Karthik Calling Karthik [DVD].
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