Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming film “The Dark Side of Life: Mumbai City” said that we are lacking in generating awareness about mental illness in our country.
Mahesh Bhatt interacted with media at the trailer launch of “The Dark Side of Life: Mumbai City” on Monday. He was present at the launch with with his director Tariq Khan and co-actors Avi, Nikhil Ratnaparakhi, Allisha Khan, and producer Rajesh Pardasani.
The team launched the trailer on ‘Suicide World prevention Day’ in wake of the film’s content and Mr. Bhatt also talked about growing cases of suicides in the society, he said, “It’s a form of mental illness and it can be treated. When you suffer with diabetes then, you have to take insulin shots. Similarly, when you are prone towards depression then you need to consult a doctor who can treat you through medication but, I think in our country, we are lacking in generating awareness about mental illness. Almost in every household people are suffering from depression.”
He also talked about his second daughter elder to Alia Bhatt, ” My own daughter Shaheen elder to Alia and younger to Pooja has been a victim of depression. At the age of sixteen realized she was depressed and wanted to kill herself. This is the story of my own family and there are so many more. We need to spread more awareness about this issue, and Tariq has taken the brave step to talk about it through his first film and that takes a lot of guts.”
He also disclosed that Shaheen will be releasing a memoir soon talking about her struggles with depression and mental health issues.
The film ‘The Dark Side of Life: Mumbai City” talks about a struggling singer in Mumbai, addresses many sensitive issues like depression, communal harmony and mental health that exist in our society.
The film stars Mahesh Bhatt as a painter and lead actor Avi as a struggling singer who then suffers from depression and considers suicide.
Directed by Tariq Khan, ‘The Dark Side Of Life: Mumbai City ‘ will release on 19th October.
