IMA, IPS appeal to withdraw 'Mental Hai Kya' teasers

Agencies
April 20, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 20: The Indian Medical Association and the Indian Psychiatric Society on Saturday appealed to producers of the film "Mental Hai Kya" to withdraw its teasers and change the movie's title, besides revising its content if it has any provocative sequence, dialogue or song.

The makers of the film have recently released a poster which shows its two lead actors facing each other as they balance a blade between their tongues.

"Brilliant imagination! But can we call it creative too? Creativity is all about producing a useful novelty. Yes, it is a novelty but would you call it useful?" the IMA and the IPS said in a statement issued here.

"The title 'Mental Hai Kya' is clearly derogatory to people fighting with their mental maladies. It is sarcastic and ridicules persons in pain," said Dr Santanu Sen, national president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

He alleged that the title of the film "ridicules" persons with mental illness which is not only unethical and inhuman but also illegal, he said.

"We appeal to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to intervene and request the Central Board of Film Certification to get the derogatory title and content censored or modified," Dr Sen added.

According to Section 92 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, whoever intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a person with disability in any place e within public view; shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine, the statement read.

"They may say that you are trying to obstruct our freedom of creative expression. We understand that creativity which utilities raw materials from unconscious mind needs no boundaries but it certainly needs editing by super ego to create a cultural artifact," said Dr Mrugesh Vaishnav, president of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS).

"Can we call a title creative which ridicules more than 10 pc of the population fighting with inner pain of illness along with external discrimination and neglect?" he said.

Vaishnav said the logic of creativity and freedom of expression do not permit the creative filmmakers to hurt the sentiments of sufferers and provoke youngsters to risk their lives.

"In a time when India is facing rise in delinquency and personality disorders marked by risk-taking behaviours such as drug and alcohol use, speedy driving, etc. creating such provocative ideals amounts to crime," the statement read.

Studies reveal that almost the entire world, including India, is facing mental health-related stigma. Experts and activists are trying to tell people that nobody is "mental" or "mad", the statement read.

"Having a mental illness is neither a crime nor a curse. These are diseases which afflict people and are curable and in some cases manageable. In the era of emphasis on human rights, it is unethical to call them mentally ill," it stated.

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Agencies
June 6,2020

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie feels discrimination and impunity cannot be justified in any way, and says she hopes people in the US can come together to "address the deep structural wrongs in our society".

The Oscar-winning star, who turned 45 on Thursday, also donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, reports people.com.

"Rights don't belong to any one group to give to another. Discrimination and impunity cannot be tolerated, explained away or justified. I hope we can come together as Americans to address the deep structural wrongs in our society," Jolie said.

"I stand with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in their fight for racial equality, social justice, and their call for urgent legislative reform," she added.

Meanwhile, the actress celebrated her birthday amid lockdown with her six children -- Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

The actress and activist has been active since the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world and has donated to different organisations.

Jolie previously donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry, the organisation working to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I knew that there were problems in America, that there was poverty, but I could not believe when I realised how many school children in America were dependent on a meal to not go hungry. I was so disgusted that we have gotten to this point as a country and that we would let the most vulnerable be in such a state. I can't imagine what it feels like for those parents," she said while opening up about her reason to get associated with the organisation.

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News Network
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: After the recent sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, actor Kangana Ranaut who went public slamming nepotism in the Hindi film industry, has now revealed that she faced similar struggles like that of Sushant.

In a new statement, the "Queen" actor alleged that she was asked to apologise to Hrithik Roshan's family in order to survive. Both Kangana and Hrithik had been in the public spotlight in the year 2016 over their alleged former relationship and legal battle.

The 'Queen' actor said: "Once Javed Akhtar had called me to his house and told me that Rakesh Roshan and his family are very big people. If you don't apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to Hrithik Roshan, I would have to commit suicide? He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house,"

She further continued, "Were there people calling Sushant? Were there people putting such thoughts into his mind? I have no idea, but obviously, he was in a similar situation. In his interviews, he had said that nepotism cannot co-exist with talent because they don't allow the right talent to come up. I can relate to it, and hence I am raising questions. I want to know who played the catalyst in this situation?"

Kangana adds, "I know Sushant had a big fallout with Aditya Chopra also. When I refused Sultan, he had threatened he would never work with me. Ever since our industry ganged up on me. I remember so many times feeling really lonely and feeling what will happen to me..."

The 'Manikarnika' star also revealed that all this not only happened to her professionally but personally as well it hampered her relationships. "They are very insecure about things. Despite what they did to me, there was a guy who wanted to get married to me. But he distanced himself, they made sure he ran away. With no surety about my career, my love-life completely has gone awry, with six court-cases against me, they're still trying to put me in jail."

Kangana also talked about herself: "I'm a different person; I'm very expressive. I went out there, and I just vented it out. Sushant was not a person like that at all. He just bottled it up. Media too has played a considerable part in this--the kind of monster image that was given to him. Everybody who knew him closely agrees that he was a soft and emotional person. I think that after a point it really got to him. I can understand it because even I have been portrayed as a witch and as a stalker."

Sharing that the bullying and outbursts had a psychological impact on her life situations, Kangana says, "I remember initially when people used to come to my home, I felt so embarrassed to even offer them water. Forget having a relationship or going on a date post the disaster of a relationship I had. I can only imagine that even during Manikarnika what they did to me."

Talking about the 'Kai Po Che' star, she added, "But perhaps he was just not able to vent. In fact, all these constant jibes on these petty show that he should be killed and which rated him as the least efficient... his films have done more business than your Gully Boy. People like Salman Khan said who Sushant Singh Rajput? It was after M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, everybody knew who Sushant was. We need to stop these."

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News Network
January 2,2020

Jan 2: A young filmmaker was allegedly assaulted by an acquaintance during an argument over CAA-NRC in neighbouring Salt Lake City, police said on Wednesday.

The police have arrested the accused following a complaint by the filmmaker.

According to a senior police officer, the argument over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) began following a social media post by the filmmaker.

The accused allegedly went to the house of the filmmaker on Monday night and picked up an argument, which led to a scuffle.

"During the scuffle, the accused attacked the filmmaker with a knife," the senior police officer said, adding that the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

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